Why the Broncos should be interested in trading for Tua Tagovailoa

The Denver Broncos should absolutely be interested in trading for Tua Tagovailoa. The former Alabama Crimson Tide QB could be on the block soon…

The Denver Broncos should have interest in Tua Tagovailoa if he becomes available in a trade with the Miami Dolphins. How significant should that interest be?

That’s up for debate.

According to a few reports on Wednesday, there is momentum building towards the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins coming together on a trade for disgruntled Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Apparently, they are trying to work it out where a third team is involved, potentially to include Tua Tagovailoa. The Texans don’t have interest in acquiring Tagovailoa.

Why the Broncos should be interested in trading for Tua Tagovailoa

The logical path to follow here is that in a trade sending Deshaun Watson to the Miami Dolphins (again, not guaranteed to happen), Tua Tagovailoa would obviously be headed elsewhere.

The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Tagovailoa was a wildly productive player for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 2017-19 and although he was oft-injured, the NFL obviously still thought very highly of him.

Now, just over a year into his NFL career and at the age of 23, he could be available in a trade as the Miami Dolphins seek to potentially add Deshaun Watson even without clarity regarding his off-field situation and future with the league.

Up to this point, Tagovailoa has not proven anything to say definitively one way or the other that he will or will not wind up becoming a great NFL quarterback. He showed flashes that he could be, certainly, at Alabama, but opinions regarding Tua have definitely not been unanimous.

Price depending, the Denver Broncos and general manager George Paton should make a move here.

It would be great, for once, to see the Denver Broncos take a bit of a calculated risk on a talented prospect who has a lot going for him, even if the early returns on his career so far have not been overly inspiring.

Again, Tagovailoa was a top-five pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and has been a highly regarded prospect for a really long time.

The Broncos are not currently in a position to just scoff at upgrades at the quarterback position. There is a reason why so many people have been mad about the team’s decision to pass on the quarterback position in the 2021 NFL Draft.

There is, at present, no solution for the future on the roster at the position unless the Broncos’ front office still believes in Drew Lock where the coaching staff doesn’t.

George Paton has a strong relationship with Dolphins GM Chris Grier and those two certainly have an open line of communication regarding a trade of this caliber. Grier would certainly want to trade Tagovailoa to a situation where he could thrive and sending him to someone he trusts, like Paton, would likely be preferable to just dumping him off to the first team that comes calling.

The price to acquire Tagovailoa can’t be all that high right now. The Dolphins themselves had to be coerced into trading a late second-round pick for Josh Rosen in 2019 when it was clear that the Cardinals weren’t going to keep him. If the price is around a third-round pick, why would you not take that chance if you’re the Broncos?

Many fans might say, you need to keep all the draft ammo for Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson.

If those two guys become available, a third-round pick is not going to be the difference in the trade. The Broncos will have plenty of capital to trade for either of those players if that opportunity presents itself.

Acquiring Tagovailoa in the event he is made available is a move a wise general manager will make. He’s not a lost cause at the age of 23. His contract is team-friendly for at least the next 3.5 seasons. He could wind up being your long-term starter.

Again, these are all hypotheticals, but in the NFL, quarterbacks are valuable currency. Drew Lock is still under contract for next season, so you could go into the offseason with a competition between Lock and Tagovailoa as your fail-safe in case you aren’t able to trade for a star or sign a clear upgrade. The 2022 NFL Draft doesn’t look like it’s going to have a bunch of great options for teams at QB, so at least a pair of options like Lock and Tagovailoa would give whatever coaching staff is around for next year the chance to evaluate an option with future upside.

The time for bridge quarterbacks in Denver is over. At this point, the Broncos have to work diligently to discover their future at that spot.

Everyone’s preference is for a Rodgers or Wilson, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make other moves in the meantime, within reason.

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The Broncos should trade for Tua Tagovailoa and evaluate more preferable options as they actually become available.