What if scenario: Miami Dolphins have to replace Tagovailoa in ’23

Trey Lance – San Francisco 49ers

Another familiar face for some of the current Dolphins players and coaches, Trey Lance will be entering his third season in the NFL with four combined starts. After the 49ers traded three first-round picks to get him, Lance sat behind Garoppolo last year as Garoppolo led San Francisco to the NFC title game. Lance came into the season as the starter, but had a poor performance against Chicago in Week 1 and then broke his ankle in Week 2 against Seattle.

Normally, Lance would be slotted to be the starter next season, especially with Garoppolo more than likely packing his bags after another season-ending injury, but there’s one interesting wrinkle to consider: Brock Purdy.

A four-year starter at Iowa State, Purdy was the last pick in last year’s draft, also known as “Mr. Irrelevant” because most players chosen with the last pick don’t make a name for themselves in the league. After coming in for the injured Garoppolo against Miami in Week 13, he’s 3-0 as a starter and has completed 69 percent of his passes and thrown for 846 yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions with a passer rating of 103.2. It’s a small sample size, but the 49er offense hasn’t missed a beat since Purdy took over the starting role.

The main knock on Lance is he hasn’t played enough. He started one season in college and has four starts in the NFL. One of the few guys that have seen a lot of him is McDaniel back when he was in San Francisco. If Purdy leads the 49ers on a deep playoff run and the coaches and front office think he’s the starter going forward, will Lance be on the trade block? Unless Purdy channels an inner Tom Brady and hoists the Lombardi Trophy in February, it’s likely that Purdy and Lance will fight it out for the starting job in training camp.

Jordon Love – Green Bay Packers

Jordan Love has been a significant talking point around the league since Green Bay traded up to the 20th pick to select him back in 2020. The narrative is that Rodgers, angered by the front office’s lack of faith in him and drafting his replacement, dug deep and willed himself to back-to-back MVP seasons. How close to the truth is that? It’s hard to say, but what we do know is that Love was drafted three years ago and has barely seen the field. If Rodgers returns to Green Bay next season, could Love end up on the Dolphins?

This month, speculation arose when reports came out that Love would request a trade after the season. It makes sense when you think about it. Why would a first-round quarterback want to continue to be a backup to Rodgers when there’s still a chance he could be a starter somewhere? A trade for an unproven backup quarterback wouldn’t cost the Dolphins too much in draft capital, which is key due to their lack of picks this year. If this happened, it would be a move out of left field, but you never know, right?