Miami Dolphins fans watched the team's first preseason game with a mixture of interest and disappointment in the team's backup quarterbacks. With Tua Tagovailoa sidelined, it was the Mike White and Skylar Thompson show.
The combined statistics for both quarterbacks resulted in a completion rate of 36.4% with 12 of their 33 passes completed for 121 yards. Fans were underwhelmed and concerned. If Tua goes down, neither White nor Thompson seems prepared to carry the load.
Dolphins fans resurrected a wish that has circulated on social media for months. They want the team to sign Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill, 36, was the 8th overall pick by the Dolphins in the 2012 NFL Draft. In six years with Miami (before moving on to Tennessee in 2019), he threw 123 touchdown passes and for over 20,000 yards.
A few months ago Sports Illustrated's Alain Poupart evaluated the possibility of a Tannehill and Dolphins reunion. The conclusion was that Tannehill, a free agent who has earned almost $196 million in his career, according to Spotrac, may not want to take a pay cut to be a backup, and the Dolphins offense that Tua runs does not suit Tannehill's game.
Fans waxing sentimental about a Tannehill and Dolphins reunion may not get what they want, but the Dolphins may have to solve a growing QB2 problem some other way.