Who Dey
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- Mar 18, 2019
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In the never-ending NFL news cycle, the news sometimes moves like a boomerang.
ESPN is making a big deal that, six days before the draft, the Dolphins tried to rush quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to the team facility before the NFL slammed the door on pre-draft visits, due to the pandemic. It’s an interesting report, albeit familiar.
It’s familiar because NFL Network reported the exact same story 29 days ago.
So what’s going on here? It’s possible that Schefty simply forgot or never knew about Ian Rapoport’s report. (Still, someone at ESPN should have remembered this.) It’s also possible that ESPN is pushing this at the behest of someone who benefits from reinforcing the impression that the Dolphins are seriously considering Tua with the fifth pick in the draft.
If could be Tua’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, who may be pushing back against a growing sense that the inability of team doctors to examine Tua will hurt him on draft night. It could be the Dolphins, who may be trying to squeeze the Bengals to want less for the No. 1 overall pick (a/k/a the Joe Burrow spot) or who may be trying to sell the Chargers (at No. 6) and/or the Panthers (at No. 7) on the notion that the Dolphins are looking at Tua when in reality they may be planning to draft Justin Herbert instead.
Whatever the reason, it’s odd to see something that was clearly and plainly reported nearly a month ago swing back around, less than a week before round one starts. And it’s hard not to think someone is pushing this hard, and that ESPN possibly has decided to dust it off in return for future consideration.