Many Dolphins fans have been curious if Miami should upgrade its backup quarterback situation and bring back our old friend Ryan Tannehill before Friday night’s game.
Now, after Friday night’s game and an awful performance from Mike White and Skylar Thompson, more Dolphins fans are clamoring for Miami to bring back Ryan Tannehill.
While I personally wouldn’t be against it, I highly doubt it will happen. Oh, let me list the reasons why
- I don’t think you would convince Ryan Tannehill to play for $2 to $3 million on a one-year deal to be a backup. Tannehill and his agent know quarterbacks get injured in this league at an alarming rate. And if he waits a week or two, or into September, odds are a quarterback will go down to injury, and a team will be willing to pay him $5 or $6 million (or possibly more) to come in and be an emergency starter.
- He isn’t a scheme fit for Mike McDaniel’s offense. We know the McDaniel offense is timing-based; get the ball out quickly. Have you watched Ryan Tannehill for the past decade? He holds onto the ball too long and has no pocket presence. Now, I know you can make the case: Well, is Skylar Thompson or Mike White a scheme fit? And that’s a good point, but if you are going to move on from White or Thompson, it better be for someone who is.
The one thing I will say, though, is that White and Thompson, both of whom have been involved in this offense for at least a year and, in Thompson’s case, more than a year, were so bad that maybe you should overlook some things and consider bringing in someone else.
Again, I doubt it happens, but it wouldn’t shock me.
Here is what I think Miami should do in the next few weeks.
There is open competition between Mike White and Skylar Thompson for the backup quarterback job. Make it a “Loser Leaves Town” competition. The winner stays as the #2 quarterback; the person who doesn’t win is cut and let go.
Then, when all of the teams make their final cuts, Miami puts in a waiver claim on another quarterback, brings that person in as the #3 quarterback, and tries to develop him.
Because the long and short of this is that beyond this year, Mike White and Skylar Thompson have no future with the Miami Dolphins. So, to hold onto both right now and bring both into the 2024 season makes little sense.
One needs to stay, and one needs to go. At the end of August, look to add someone off the waiver wire who is a bit younger and may have a brighter upside that you can develop and bring in.
That’s how I would handle it; we will see if the Dolphins do anything.
