Dolphins pull trigger on Watson, send Tua to Texans
Disgruntled Watson “elated”, Tua “surprised, frustrated”
By djp73 | @djp73
When former Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson expressed his frustrations with the Texans organization and front office and indicated he would be interested in going to Miami there were some who said Miami should do whatever it took to make it happen and others who said they would be foolish to do so.
Ultimately, Miami's brain trust decided to try to make it happen.
In the end it cost them Tua Tagovailoa and some draft picks that have yet to be fully disclosed.
There was some speculation that the Dolphins weren't entirely sold on Tua because despite showing some flashes he was ultimately replaced in important games by Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was able to turn some of those games into wins.
“This is a move that improves our football team right now.” stated GM Chris Grier. “While you always want to keep the future in mind we feel that this is a great move for us. Deshaun is a Hall of Fame type quarterback in our eyes and he is only 25. We look forward to putting a strong team around him and competing for championships.”
Watson merely posted #elated on twitter after the news broke.
Tagovailoa was a bit more in depth, saying he was surprised and frustrated by the move but that he looked forward to the future and was excited to move forward.
Miami has a plethora of cap space and has already drawn interest from a number of veteran free agents who would like the climate, tax benefits and the opportunity to play with Watson and for head coach Brian Flores, who has already gained a good reputation among players.
Despite losing DeAndre Hopkins before the season Watson threw for a career high 4,823 yards and 33 touchdowns against just seven interceptions while completing over 70% of his passes. He has thrown for 14,539 yards and 104 touchdowns in his four year career, making the Pro Bowl in each of the last three seasons.
Tagovailoa played in ten games, starting nine. He threw for 1,814 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions in his lone season in Miami.