The Dolphins’ QB situation is once again in the spotlight with Deshaun Watson trade rumors

Tua Tagovailoa returned to the field against the Jaguars, and while the team still lost with him out there, the Dolphins offense certainly benefited from having him out there. Aside from a couple of bad throws, Tua looked pretty sharp, and Miami at least knows that they have two capable quarterbacks even if everything is a mess.

Or do they? A firestorm of reports and rumors blazed to life Wednesday afternoon, all of them pointing in the same direction. While some had Tua headed to Denver, some had him headed to Washington and some didn’t mention a third team at all, these reports indicated that the Dolphins are on the cusp of trading for Deshaun Watson, and that a deal could be done as soon as this week.

Those rumors were largely shot down later in the night, including by ESPN’s Dolphins beat reporter, but we’ll likely continue to hear them between now and Sunday.

There are several reasons to pump the brakes on this, even if so many folks catching wind of the report at once indicate there may be something going on. The Texans are still supposedly looking for considerable value for Watson, the Dolphins may or may not even be able to play him anytime soon with the lawsuits against the quarterback proceeding and Houston quietly parking him while his legal situation plays out. I still find it difficult to believe, with so many credible allegations against Watson and the NFL sure to take some kind of action down the line, that a team would pony up major draft capital to get him right now.

If they do, though, there will likely be more dominoes. Presumably the team would be eager to move Tua or Jacoby Brissett to free up a roster spot and get back a little draft capital after shipping a lot away. The Dolphins are desperate to show some progress or at least future promise after such a bitterly disappointing start to the year, however, and the Texans might be talking themselves into rebuilding a bit with Davis Mills at the helm until another quarterback they like falls into their lap in the draft. There’s always the slim possibility that Tua heads to Houston in any deal, too, meaning there’s a lot of intrigue here even if I’m willing to bet all that smoke won’t lead to any fire before the weekend.

For the Falcons, the task doesn’t change that much, but Arthur Smith and Dean Pees will want to make sure they’re ready for Brissett as well as Tua, just in case a blockbuster comes out of nowhere and the backup winds up starting. Even if Miami does stun us, I can’t see Watson actually playing this weekend. Either way, then, the Falcons still will be facing a conservative offense helmed by a solid-but-not-spectacular quarterback, and hopefully they’ll win regardless of what the Dolphins do this week.