I don’t typically watch the pregame or post-game shows on Sundays. I don’t watch many football shows because they either have something negative to say about the Miami Dolphins or they talk about them as a footnote. I decided to watch the FOX post-game show on Sunday after the Dolphins beat the New York Giants. I’m glad I chose to because Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw pointed out something on the Dolphins’ money that they have to decide on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa immediately after the season to move forward.

Long pointed out that the Dolphins put together a good roster, but they have to decide on quarterback whether Tagovailoa is their guy or isn’t so they can move forward. He also pointed out how ridiculous it is for teams to draft a quarterback high and are quick to move on after a couple of seasons. He said players develop differently, and the NFL is the highest level, and for some players, it takes time to adjust, especially at quarterback. He’s right on that. In some cases, quarterbacks get drafted high, but when there is a coaching change, teams like to bring in their own guy, like the Arizona Cardinals with Kliff Kingsbury. Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and coach Brian Flores drafted Tagovailoa and should let him develop.

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Bradshaw, who is a hall of fame quarterback, talked about how when he came into the league and how he struggled his first few years and had to adjust to the game. He also pointed out that the coach and general manager who drafted him had the patience to work with him and develop him. He also said quarterbacks develop differently, and even though the rules of the game favor the quarterback, you still have to go through your progressions, read defenses, etc. All of that takes time.

I appreciated his insight since he was a former quarterback, and if Bradshaw were playing now today, he probably wouldn’t have lasted because teams don’t have patience. I understand there is more money invested into players than when Bradshaw was playing 50 years ago. There is a salary cap, and teams change year after year, unlike when he played, but players still have to develop.

Teams want a superstar quarterback who can carry a team on their backs, make big plays with their arm and have the ability to extend plays off script when the play breaks down, like Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, and Russell Wilson. Tagovailoa’s future has been in question because the Houston Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson wants to be traded and would love to play for the Dolphins. He is in the middle of a sexual harassment suit in which 22 women claimed to have been harassed by Watson. No team will trade for Watson until that gets resolved and he gets cleared. Tagovailoa had been struggling the first part of the season with his play and being out with injury, so speculation was the Dolphins were going to trade for Watson to take over. The deal never happened when the trade deadline passed.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) warms up before a NFL preseason football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Since the trade deadline passed, Tagovailoa has been playing more confident and relaxed it has been showing in his play. Tagovailoa is in a tough spot like all quarterbacks, especially with the Dolphins, who have been looking for a franchise quarterback since Dan Marino retired over 20 years ago. The Watson rumors don’t help him, and it’s impossible to block out all of the conversations and not have it affect you Tagovailoa is human like all of us. Tagovailoa isn’t a big quarterback with a strong arm and makes plays with his legs like Mahomes or Josh Allen. He’s an undersized quarterback, who lacks arm strength, but he has a lot of qualities to overcome his limitations. He’s a leader, gets the ball out fast, and has excellent accuracy. We are starting to see that in him as he has gotten more and more comfortable with each passing game. He reminds me of Chad Pennington, who didn’t have the biggest arm but was a leader, had great accuracy, and didn’t turn the football over. People look at that and say, game manager. Being a game manager isn’t a bad thing, and you can win games doing that; just look at the New England Patriots with rookie Mac Jones. In the last three and a half games, Tagovailoa had five touchdown passes and one interception to go with a quarterback rating of over 100 and completing over 70 percent of his passes despite the offense’s limitations. He gets the ball out of his hands faster since coming into, which is a good sign the game is slowing down, and he’s starting to throw the jump ball to his bigger targets DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki.

Tagovailoa isn’t the flashiest quarterback, and the Dolphins can win games with. Can he win a Super Bowl? I don’t know. They need to evaluate the last four games on top of what they have seen to determine if they should continue to build around Tagovailoa or look for an upgrade. The Dolphins have the draft assets to trade for a quarterback and the cap space. If they do go in another direction, the Dolphins will still have to find players around that quarterback, whether it be Watson or someone else, but the Dolphins have to make that decision, so this team can move forward as a franchise.