MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins vs. Atlanta Falcons will be the Mike White-Skylar Thompson Show.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel all but ruled out the possibility of Tua Tagovailoa seeing the field in Friday night’s 2024 preseason opener against the Falcons.
That means White and Thompson will get all the snaps Friday night — an important subplot as the battle to back up Tagovailoa enters its most critical phase.
A Big Night for Miami Dolphins’ Mike White, Skylar Thompson
The Dolphins carried three quarterbacks all last year even though Tagovailoa was on the field for all but 53 of the snaps.
Certainly, Tagovailoa’s troublesome injury history played a role in that decision.
Miami had Super Bowl hopes, and McDaniel had just watched his friend Kyle Shanahan having to play Christian McCaffrey at quarterback in the previous season’s NFC Championship Game after the San Francisco 49ers lost both Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson to in-game injuries.
But with the NFL’s decision this offseason to allow teams to elevate the emergency game-day quarterback from the practice squad on an unlimited basis, expect the Dolphins (and most teams) to carry just one backup on the active roster.
So the QB2 competition this summer isn’t just a battle for playing time. It’s for hundreds of thousands — or in the case of White, millions — of dollars.
Neither White nor Thompson have any part of their 2024 salaries guaranteed. White will make $3.5 million if he’s on the team, while Thompson is scheduled to earn just under $1 million.
But cutting White would save the Dolphins $2.5 million more against the cap than cutting Thompson would — which has to be at least a minor consideration for a team projected to be at least $38 million over the cap in 2025.
However, Miami might think that’s money well spent since it’s far likelier that Thompson would make it through waivers and onto their practice squad than White would.
Plus, White has been better in the regular season than Thompson, so the Dolphins might trust him in that situation more, even if Thompson has been better in camp.
And that’s how our eyes have seen it.
Neither White nor Thompson has been great, but if we had to give the edge, it would be to the latter, who had the highlight of Wednesday’s joint practice when he connected with Malik Washington on a deep pass.
Of course, our evaluation is meaningless. It only matters what Miami’s coaches think. Here’s what McDaniel said Wednesday when asked his thoughts on the matter.
“Each individual, I think, is better than where they were last year. That’s hugely important for quarterbacks, particularly ones that don’t start or play during the season. You don’t want to regress; you want to improve.
“[The competition] is neck and neck, and far from me even thinking about who’s going to win that job, and I think that’s a compliment just because they’re both developing very well.”
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While their performances Friday (and in the Dolphins’ two preseason games that follow) will factor significantly into the decision-making process, it’s important to remember that the thousands of practice reps White and Thompson will have gotten from April through August will also weigh heavily.
Plus, McDaniel realizes that it won’t be an apples-to-apples evaluation Friday night.
“You want to get guys opportunities, but they’re also playing with different players and against different defenses that your corresponding play calls are different,” he explained.
“… For me, the best compromise is trying to get guys some rhythm, some ownership of the game to see how they respond to ebbs and flows, but then also trying to get them in similar opportunities with their teammates.
“So the best of both worlds, a lot of times, for me, is getting guys opportunities in several games, but then making sure that in those opportunities, that a rhythm is established, that they have enough time to play and that’s kind of really the way I look at it. It’s abstract, like most things, but you’re trying to problem-solve so you can give guys an opportunity to win the job, because it’s not for me to settle, it’s for them.”
