Could a healthy Russell Wilson be the Dolphins’ answer at quarterback with Tua Tagovailoa sidelined following his latest concussion?
Rex Ryan floated the possibility Monday on ESPN’s “Get Up” as Tagovailoa — who suffered his fourth documented concussion Thursday in Miami’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo — continues to see specialists with no timetable set for a return.
“If you’re a team that loses a quarterback and you call the Pittsburgh Steelers, is someone going to consider trying to trade for Russell Wilson? If you’re a team right now and your quarterback got hurt, would you be calling them about Russell Wilson?” Mike Greenberg asked, to which Ryan replied, “I think he’d be the number one guy you would call.”
Wilson, who joined the Steelers in March following a breakup with the Broncos after two seasons, has missed the past two games with a lingering calf issue.
Backup quarterback Justin Fields has since led the Steelers to two straight wins, with questions arising if the former first-round pick will continue in the starting role.
Ryan then suggested what the potential asking price could be for an established veteran such as Wilson, who is coming off a 26-touchdown, eight-interception campaign in 2023.
“Here’s what you ask for, you ask for a first-round pick,” Ryan said. “… Why would Pittsburgh trade him? Unless it’s a first-round pick, they’re not going to trade him because their situation is good. Everybody knows you need two quarterbacks in this league and so no, but I’m telling you, you’ve seen it, what’s the price of a starting quarterback in this league? It’s a first-round pick. So the only way you make that move for Russell Wilson is if you’re a team that has lost their starting quarterback and you think you are a playoff-contending team.”
Enter the Dolphins, who reached the wild-card round last year after an 11-6 regular-season finish, with Ryan suggesting “there very well could be” a playoff contender in South Beach.
“We don’t know exactly where that’s going to lead to with Tua but certainly that feels like among the possibilities of a team that might need to make a move for a quarterback,” Greenberg said.
The Dolphins do have insurance at quarterback with former seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson, who relieved the injured Tagovailoa in Week 2, and former Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley, who joined the team Monday.
Tagovailoa, 26, was just two games into his four-year, $212.4 million contract extension when he suffered the injury upon lowering his head while rushing for a first down.
Despite calls from former NFL players to retire, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Tagovailoa has “no plans” to do so.
