NEWS NOW: Does the Miami Dolphins quarterback contract need to be renewed for…
Tua Tagovailoa, the quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, was up for a contract renewal last summer. Rather, the Dolphins decided to keep onto the former Alabama All-American until the 2024 season by exercising the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.
Following a 26-7 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday night in the NFL playoffs, general manager Chris Grier said on Monday that the Dolphins want to retain Tagovailoa “here long term.” With another offseason beginning,
It’ll take years for the Bears’ decisions to play out. Sunday’s game against the Dolphins will be receiver Chase Claypool’s debut for the Bears, and draft picks still need to be made in the spring. But trading Quinn and linebacker Roquan Smith were long-term moves that made the Bears defense — a unit that was struggling — worse in the short term.
How will the Bears handle it?
It will be easier to identify and potentially quantify how much the Bears defense misses Smith than it was without Quinn after he was traded to the Eagles last week. The Bears’ loss to the Cowboys could be explained as one team running into a superior opponent in terms of first-round production, experience and 1-53 player talent.
Quinn had played 72, 76, 71, 66, 63, 63 and 62 percent of the Bears’ defensive snaps over the first seven games of the season. In his Eagles debut, Quinn made one quarterback hit while playing only 20 snaps — 26 percent of their defensive plays — in a 35-13 rout of the Steelers.
The Bears’ current group of defensive ends didn’t sack Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott — or really pressure him. Here’s how things played out for them without Quinn:
Without Quinn, a poor run defence seemed much worse; without Smith, it should appear further worse before improving. After defeating the Vikings (429) and Packers (414), the Cowboys (442) became the third team this season to score more than 400 yards of total offence against the Bears.
The calibre of running backs faced in all three losses—Aaron Jones, Dalvin Cook, and Tony Pollard—who averages more than two yards per carry more than Ezekiel Elliott—was a recurring trend. Three victories and forty-seven yards and six touchdowns on 47 carries for those three. Smith may have played his three worst games of the season in those contests.
When the Colts and the Bears faced similar roster requirements and concerns in the 2018 draft, Eberflus was asked to go back in time. Would the Colts have selected Smith if guard Quenton Nelson had not been available in the 2018 draft? Eberflus, the defensive coordinator for the Colts at the time, confirmed the Bears’ pick of No. 8. He had an intriguing reaction.
The Colts general manager, Chris Ballard, wasn’t in the business of drafting an off-the-ball linebacker at eight, according to Eberflus. “I doubt I could persuade him of that.”
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Bears mailbag: Week 9 choices, Eddie Jackson’s future, and the reasoning behind the trade of Roquan Smith
It’s an insightful response that emphasises the significance of many viewpoints. Although Smith’s fit with the Bears defence was awkward at times, Eberflus said that he did want Smith to come back.
According to Eberflus, “it was really the contract negotiations.” Did we want for his return? Yes. Indeed, we did. We extended to him an offer. It was simply something that Ryan, Roquan, and the Bears couldn’t agree on. The short explanation is that we want him return.
However, they refused to offer Smith the same contract that the Colts gave linebacker Shaquille Leonard, who rose to prominence under Eberflus.
“To us, we covet ball production in that position, so that right there is a very important thing that will linebacker needs to do,” Eberflus said. “I would just say that we always base things on numbers and production.” “We still adored Roquan,” They rejected our offer after failing to find common ground, and that was the end of it.
It will still be difficult to replace Smith, however. Everyone is aware of it.
It is anticipated that veteran linebacker Nicholas Morrow would move to weakside linebacker, with undrafted rookie Jack Sanborn seeing action in the middle. Sanborn participated in 13 defensive snaps last week against the Cowboys, which is a season high.
The Bears’ secondary and pass defence, which features youngsters Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker, continue to be strong points. It’s evident that Gordon and Brisker are becoming better. However, the Bears defence as a whole seems to be veering towards the incompetence of the 2013 and 2014 campaigns after eight games. Mel Tucker, who is now the head coach at Michigan State, oversaw the defence during that time when Marc Trestman was the Bears’ coach. In those two seasons, the Bears had the two poorest defences in franchise history. Let’s contrast.
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