The Miami Dolphins might very well trade up for a quarterback in Round 1 of the 2018 NFL Draft Thursday night. The team has met with some of the top signal callers in the draft, Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield included.
In no way does this mean that Miami is prepared to replace incumbent starter Ryan Tannehill over the short term. Doubling down on public talking points from the past several weeks, the Dolphins have reportedly given Tannehill a draft day assurance that he’ll be the starting quarterback next season.
The #Dolphins haven’t ruled out trading up tonight if a QB slides in the #NFLDraft, but they’ve also made clear to Ryan Tannehill that no matter what, he’s their starter for 2018. @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/vIDfcHbva5
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 26, 2018
We can take this with pretty much the largest grain of salt known to humankind. Picking 11th overall, there’s a chance one of the top-five quarterbacks will be on the board for Miami. Though, reports have surfaced that Miami may in fact look to trade up into the top 10.
If that’s the case, it’s hard to believe the team will simply hand the starting job to a quarterback in Tannehill who missed the entire 2017 season with a torn ACL.
A former first-round pick out of Texas A&M back in 2012, Tannehill restructured his contract earlier this offseason. Said restructure created a dead cap hit of $13.4 million in 2019, making it hard for the Dolphins to move on from the former Aggie unless they’re able to find a trade partner.