There’s one big problem with Michael Irvin’s blockbuster dream for the Miami Dolphins
One football legend from South Florida has big dreams for the Miami Dolphins. But this dream should remain exactly that…a dream.
The Miami Dolphins are in the first steps of their new build as a football operation. And, as a result, there aren’t a lot of concrete, definitive answers for the roster.
As a result, people often dare to dream big for what this could look like down the stretch. Miami Hurricanes alumni and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin is, apparently, no exception. Because on Monday morning’s First Take, Irvin went on a tirade about how tremendous it would be to see the Miami Dolphins acquire star quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Jackson, who landed on injured reserve after a thumb injury against Buffalo, may have just played his last snap in Baltimore. He’s entering into a contract year and in search of a new deal. But he’s now hurt — which could leave the parties at a crossroads. Could the Dolphins be a player in the future for Jackson? Not if I get my dream, which is to see Irvin’s not come true.
Michael Irvin is dreaming of a world where Lamar Jackson plays quarterback for the Miami Dolphins
“Lamar in Baltimore is an NFL superstar. Lamar in Miami is an INTERNATIONAL ICON. And it will be off the charts. They’re already singing, and humming, and wishing all of these things to be true. And you can not sit here and tell us ‘we don’t believe Lamar is playing these strings’. And he’s playing them perfectly.”
— NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin on ESPN’s First Take
Did…did I miss something? Did I sleep through the portion of all of the Jon-Eric Sullivan press conferences in which he said he was just kidding about building through the draft? Did I miss the part where the Miami Dolphins are a quarterback away from deep playoff runs? In comparison to the franchise in the midst of a foundational build?
Look, I get it. The Dolphins haven’t had a true superstar quarterback in Miami since Dan Marino retired. And it doesn’t get much more “superstar” than Lamar Jackson — who is one of the five best quarterbacks on the face of the planet. But the questions around Jackson at this stage certainly feel like they fly in the face of…pretty much everything team leadership has said it stands for?
And when I say pretty much everything, I mean pretty much EVERYTHING. Acquiring Jackson, who is under contract in 2027, would require multiple draft choices. Premium ones. First and second round draft choices…but The Dolphins want to build through the draft? The Dolphins have said they want to get younger. Jackson, who is now battling questions about durability and has the second most rush attempts of any quarterback in NFL history, turns 30 in January. That isn’t old for NFL quarterback standards, but making this kind of move while lingering questions about longevity start to creep in would be a choice. To stay the least.
Miami is trying to build something from the ground up. Acquiring Jackson would be like putting siding on the frame of your house and calling it a day. Really nice siding, but an incomplete process all the same. About the only thing that this would align with is the premium position emphasis this leadership group has placed on the quarterback.
Please don’t misconstrue this to be something that it isn’t. Jackson is a sensational talent. And if you could guarantee me the next eight to 10 years would look like the last eight? It would certainly be an enticing proposition. But you can’t. Especially with where this season has taken him. And, for that and many other reasons, I’m out.
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