‘WHAT JUST HAPPENED?’
may be unique, his meeting was on par with many others the Dolphins have had with draft prospects and agents at the combine this week.
Dolphins coach Brian Flores is spearheading a stealthy operation with regard to the franchise’s thoughts and movements throughout the upcoming draft and free agency, and he does not want the result of Miami’s meetings to divulge any of the team’s intentions.
Also, Flores has also been known to create adversity in a variety of ways to see how players respond in an effort to gauge their character and mental toughness, which could have been a tactic he used to test Tagovailoa during their first meeting together.
Tagovailoa’s initial impressions of the Dolphins still remains the same.
He believes they have a great owner in Steve Ross, great leadership in general manager Chris Grier, a “perfect” coach in Flores and optimism in new Dolphins offensive coordinator Chan Gailey being able to maximize Tagovailoa’s ability.
Tagovailoa also understands how NFL teams like the Dolphins operate, trying to keep their motives and player evaluations close to the vest.
Flores and Grier are tasked with altering the trajectory of the franchise this offseason. Miami hopes to do so by responsibly spending $100 million in salarycap space in free agency, which begins in the middle of March, to go along with the team’s 14 picks in April’s draft.
Among the challenges Flores and Grier face is landing a franchise quarterback to lead the way, something Tagovailoa believes he could be in Miami.
Still, the looming issue that could prevent the Dolphins from landing Tagovailoa remains.
Miami would likely have to make a draft-day trade with the Washington Redskins, who own the No. 2 pick, or the Detroit Lions, who own the No. 3 pick, to prevent any other interested teams from drafting Tagovailoa before them.
“It doesn’t change how he feels about Miami,” the source said. “Miami is the place for him.”