The Miami Dolphins are no longer in the Deshaun Watson market. Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Wednesday, GM Chris Grier told reporters that “the door is shut on Deshaun,” signaling that the team has stopped pursuing him in a trade with the Houston Texans.
Miami was arguably the team most linked to trading for Watson over the last year. There were even reports leading into the trade deadline this season that Miami and Houston had agreed on the compensation of a Watson blockbuster and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross had approved the deal.
The holdup, of course, was Watson’s legal troubles off the field where he is currently facing 22 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct. That has prevented the Dolphins — or any team — from truly rolling out a full-court press in trying to trade for Watson as it’s unclear what his future — both in terms of legal trouble and a possible NFL suspension — may be.
This comes as Texans head coach Lovie Smith told reporters on Wednesday that he hopes for a resolution between the team and Watson to occur sooner rather than later. While the Dolphins may be out on Watson, there will certainly be other teams inquiring over the next few weeks and months, especially if there is some clarity on his off-the-field situation.
Meanwhile, Grier went on to say that the Dolphins are committed to Tua Tagovailoa and believes he will play well in new head coach Mike McDaniel’s offense. The former first-round pick is heading into his third season in the league but hasn’t enjoyed the same level of success as some of his other draft classmates — like Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert — have to this point in their careers. The hope is that changes under McDaniel, who helped the 49ers have one of the best offenses in the NFL last season as their offensive coordinator.
