With the Patriots rolling over the Chargers, the Dolphins likely will have to wait at least a week to make New England linebackers coach Brian Flores their head coach.
No rush — the team he’s taking over may not be trying to win again until 2020.
Miami is already looking toward the 2020 quarterback class, which should feature Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert, ESPN reported Sunday. The report, citing sources, indicated the Dolphins know they have to rebuild over time — which, translated, amounts to their not being good, getting a top draft pick and changing their fortunes slowly.
In essence, the Dolphins are reportedly tanking — even if that’s a near impossibility from a player standpoint, as each is playing for a paycheck. Still, ownership doesn’t have to bring in players who would help the team win.
The Dolphins, coming off a 7-9 season that ended with head coach Adam Gase being fired, will have the No. 13 pick this year in a quarterback-shallow draft; the same teams that need a future signal-caller this offseason (the Giants, Jaguars, Redskins, perhaps the Bucs) have an excellent chance of needing a future signal-caller next offseason, as well.
“Basically, the thought is we’re going to look to really build this organization based on our needs and if it takes a year or so — two years, three years — we’re going to be there and we’re going to be a [winning] organization,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross told reporters last week.
Tanking for Tua is on, and the 2018 season doesn’t even have a bow — much less the 2019 one.