Don’t Waste Your Time On the Bryce Young-To-Dolphins Hype
Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Nobody does reckless speculation like the NFL. Fans and media love nothing more than hot-glueing a hot take to an even hotter rumor. As the Miami Dolphins have endured an incredibly difficult quarterback saga over the last five days, the Carolina Panthers have made headlines of their own by officially benching their former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young. It didn’t take long for these narratives to collide.
After thinking about this all day, I think I have the solution.
Send Bryce Young to the Miami Dolphins for a conditional pick tied to performance benchmarks.
This is a win-win-win. https://t.co/d6misLNTOo
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) September 16, 2024
For the longest time highly drafted quarterbacks fell into one of two categories: you were either a stud or a bust. In the last few years we’ve seen the addition of a third category: the “maybe we were wrong quarterbacks.” Geno Smith in Seattle, Baker Mayfield in Tampa, and now Sam Darnold in Minnesota have all rekindled their early-career potential in new situations.
Key in all three of these examples has been access to the Shanahan coaching tree. Shane Waldron was the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator during Geno Smith’s rise to prominence. Waldron, before coming to Seattle, served under Sean McVay in LA.
Baker Mayfield not only spent a week saving his career on a magical Thursday night under McVay in Los Angeles, but his first-year offensive coordinator in Tampa was Dave Canales, who worked under Waldron in Seattle. His new offensive coordinator in Tampa is Liam Coen, who spent last season as the OC under McVay.
Darnold, who spent a season with the other side of the Shanahan coaching tree in San Francisco, is revitalizing his career under another former Rams assistant, Kevin O’Connell. It seems that if there is anyone capable of fixing busted prospects, it’s the young, efficiency-oriented offensive coaches coming out of the West Coast.
Mike McDaniel is the Crown Prince of that group. So, sure, why not take Young’s talents to South Beach? There is absolutely a universe where someone with all the potential in the world, but no results to show for it would be a dream match for a guy like McDaniel. Heck, that’s arguably who Tua was.
But this is not that universe.
Miami finds itself at the center of one of the NFL’s most unprecedented moments. Despite the notion that Tagovailoa wants to return and the Dolphins want to help him along, there is no obvious path for him to come back. The unique nature and severity of the QB’s continued concussions put any possibility on the table. The organization, the league, and the man’s family are at the precipice of an incredibly difficult journey, no matter what decisions are ultimately made.
But even if the Dolphins were truly interested in Young, there is no world where they would pursue him any time soon. In addition to the financial commitment they’ve given Tua, courting Young would be a huge sign of disrespect for the face of their franchise at an incredibly vulnerable moment.
Tua has literally put his body on the line to lead the Dolphins back to relevance, he deserves for the organization to treat this situation delicately. You don’t give a guy $200 million in the offseason and then go QB-shopping in the middle of the most dramatic moment of his life. Bringing in a player two years removed from being the No. 1 overall pick would inarguably look like a succession plan. There’s no way they could sell it to Tua, the team, and the fan base as anything else.
Besides, the Dolphins would likely have to part with, at the very least, a conditional draft pick that would be tied to Young’s performance. If Young were to come in and do what you would hope he would do, that pick would climb the board very quickly. After an exodus of talent in the 2023 off-season, this team needs to hold on to every high-end draft pick they have.
Spending one on Tua insurance, and/or the hope that Young could thrive in Miami, at this moment, doesn’t seem prudent. This is all in addition to the financial aspect. The Dolphins spent last offseason in cap hell and can in no way, shape, or form take on Young’s contract.
But hey, let’s humor the hot take mill and say the team can get past everything listed above. There’s no guarantee that the Dolphins would be the best or highest-paying suitor.
We don’t even know if Young is going to be an upgrade over Huntley, at least at this stage of their careers. Young is much younger than Darnold, Smith, and Mayfield were when they were given their big second chance. He may not be as ready as the others were for a good situation.
The perfect spot is probably a team where he can be behind an aging veteran with the ability to grow and eventually take over. In that scenario, it would be hard to compete with the Rams. As mentioned above, all of these second-chance success success stories are tied to McVay and Shanahan’s coaching tree. What situation could be better for Young than to be with McVay himself? Although Miami would be an extremely intriguing destination, and Mike McDaniel is an excellent coach, somewhere Young would be forced to play right away might not be a more desirable opportunity than what may exist in LA or elsewhere.
It’s been a tough week for Tua, the organization, and Miami Dolphins fans. There’s reason to believe that things could get even tougher. But hopping on the latest hot-take rumor bandwagon isn’t realistic, nor will it make that journey any easier.
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