Should the Dolphins Go After Tom Brady or Philip Rivers?

Tom Brady and Philip Rivers become free agents for the first time in their careers this offseason. Should the Dolphins look into these two star QB’s? The Dolphins have had quarterback questions since Dan Marino retired at the end of the 1999 season. The quarterback that the Dolphins thought would be the next face of the offense was Ryan Tannehill after he was drafted in 2012. Tannehill was able to lead the Dolphins to the playoffs in the 2016 season but would lose in the Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In Training Camp of the 2017 season Tannehill would tear his ACL and this would be the beginning of the end for Tannehill as a Dolphin. Tannehill would be the starting QB in the 2018 season before being traded to the Tennessee Titans on March 15, 2019.

After Tannehill was traded, the Dolphins would sign veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a two-year contract on March 18, 2019. In the 2019 draft the Dolphins would trade for Josh Rosen, the first-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in the 2018 draft. Going into training camp of 2019 the question of who the starting quarterback for the Dolphins was up in the air. As the 2019 season would progress Rosen would play in five games throwing one touchdown and five interceptions. Ryan Fitzpatrick would come to the forefront as the starting quarterback for the Dolphins from week 6 onward.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is a veteran quarterback who has been shown to be able to throw a team on his back and lead them to wins. The big question is if he is the quarterback that can lead the Dolphins in the future. The short answer to this question is no. In the short-term Fitzpatrick is a suitable quarterback to get the job done in building this team for the future and developing receivers. However, in the long-term Fitzpatrick is not a young quarterback who this team can be built around for years to come.

Tom Brady is a very flashy name to think of as the next quarterback for the Miami Dolphins but he is not the answer either. Brady is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game of football, but he is not the quarterback to build the Dolphins around. Brady looks to finally have father time catching up with him and will at most probably play for another two seasons under a large contract. This is not the answer to the quarterback dilemma for the Dolphins, Brady is a short-term answer to a long-term problem.

Philip Rivers has been the face of the Chargers since he debuted under center for them in 2004. On February 10, 2020 it was announced that the Chargers and Rivers had mutually agreed to part ways for the first time in Rivers’ career. It is well-known that Rivers has moved to Florida with his family giving him even more reason to sign with the Dolphins. However, just like Fitzpatrick, Rivers is a great quarterback who can make a positive impact on this Dolphins team by helping to develop a smooth offense and help develop receivers. Rivers has been a very solid quarterback leading the Chargers 10 winning seasons as the starting quarterback. However, when it has come time for the playoffs, Rivers has not had the same success as he has in the regular season. Rivers final season with the Chargers was also one of his worst to date throwing 23 TD’s and 20 INT’s.

The Dolphins have their future under center in the palm of their hands with their positioning in the 2020 Draft. There has been much speculation that the Dolphins plan to draft Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick in the draft. At this point Tagovailoa has had a stellar college career throwing 87 TD’s and only 11 INT’s during his four seasons. While it is currently unknown if Tagovailoa is going to be a star QB in the NFL only time will tell, but one question that can be answered is that the Dolphins should not go after Tom Brady or Philip Rivers.