An update on the Dolphins and backup quarterback. And notes on draft picks, Tindall, more

The Dolphins have locked up their starting quarterback for the next two years.

Now they need to make sure they’re protected if Tua Tagovailoa again misses time with an injury.

The Dolphins have made backup quarterback a priority the past two years, signing Jacoby Brissett and Teddy Bridgewater to good money early in free agency.

Both seemed like good moves at the time, but Brissett was pretty average in his one season here (5 TDs, 4 INTs, 78.1 rating in 11 games and five starts) and Bridgewater last season was foiled by multiple injuries, forcing him to miss the key regular season finale and the Bills playoff game.

The Dolphins need to find a reliable No. 2 next week, and they assuredly know it. The problem is that a dozen teams need quality backups, and less than half that are available.

“The name I keep hearing with them is Gardner Minshew,” said one NFL person involved in the free agent quarterback market.

Will Minshew - who has been a solid quarterback over 24 NFL starts - be the one the Dolphins pursue when free agency begins Monday? That’s unclear.

There are a lot of smokescreens this time of year.

But at the very least, I believe he’s on their radar, and he should be.

Minshew and Andy Dalton, in my view, make the most sense of the available options. Minshew has thrown 44 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 32 appearances. His 93.1 career rating is better than most backups.

He won only 7 of 21 starts for a bad Jacksonville team in his first two seasons but had some very good moments along the way.

As Philadelphia’s backup the past two seasons, he went 1-3 with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and a 92.8 rating.

Filling in for Jalen Hurts in two late-season games last year, Minshew went 24 for 40 for 355 yards, 2 TDs and 2 picks in a 40-34 loss to Dallas, and 18 for 32 for 274 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception in a 20-10 loss to the Saints.

He’s a clear step up from No. 3 quarterback Skylar Thompson and more durable than Bridgewater.

Dolphins quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell, as Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator in 2021, and coach Urban Meyer split first-team training camp snaps that August between top overall pick Trevor Lawrence and Minshew. After Meyer announced that the rookie Lawrence won the starting job, Minshew was dealt to Philadelphia for a draft pick and C.J. Beathard was kept as the Jaguars’ No. 2 quarterback.

At the time, Minshew made clear he preferred to land in a spot where he could compete for a starting job. So the Dolphins need to make sure he would be fine being a backup.

“I think he’s a leader... a lot of charisma,” Bevell said of Minshew in 2021. “He does a great job of managing things on the field.”

Though the Eagles (with just $6.6 million in cap space) will need to spend their money on bigger needs than backup quarterback, the question is whether another team with a more precarious quarterback situation (such as Washington) could outbid Miami for Minshew if that’s the direction the Dolphins go.

Jimmy Garoppolo would seem unrealistic unless he can’t find a team where he could start, and unless he accepts backup-caliber money.

There are 36 free agent quarterbacks, but fewer than 10 are realistic options if the Dolphins take backup quarterback as seriously as they should.

That group would be topped by Minshew, the Saints’ Dalton (18 touchdowns, 9 interceptions and a 95.2 rating in 14 starts this season), Washington’s Taylor Heinicke (5-3-1 with 12 touchdowns, six interceptions and an 89.6 passer rating this past season), the Cowboys’ Cooper Rush (5 TDs, 3 INTs, 80 passer rating in five starts filling in for Dak Prescott last season) and two released recently - Carson Wentz .(11 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 80.2 rating for Washington last season) and Marcus Mariota (15 TDs, 9 INTs, 88.2 in 13 starts for Atlanta last season).

Any backup quarterback has blemishes, but a case could be made for any of those aforementioned six. (And yes, I know Wentz’s last two stints, in Indy and Washington, didn’t end well.)

Dalton could look elsewhere after the Saints signed Derek Carr.

A pursuit of Baker Mayfield, which could be justified, would surprise me.

The next tier includes those who have had less success - Sam Darnold, Mike White, Nick Mullens (has history with Mike McDaniel), Blaine Gabbert and Drew Lock - and those well past their prime, including Joe Flacco, Case Keenum and Chase Daniels.

Mullens cannot be discounted because McDaniel spent three years with him; he had 25 TDs, 22 picks, an 87.2 rating and 5-11 record in 16 starts over three seasons. He was Minnesota’s backup last season and went 21 for 25 for 224 yards, a TD and a pick.

There’s also the been there/done that category of ex-Dolphins, with Brissett and Bridgewater both hitting the market.

White, who went 1-3 in four starts for the Jets last season, recently told WQAM’s Joe Rose that while he would love to be back with the Jets, he would “hundred percent” be interested in the Dolphins’ backup job.

“Selfishly from a personal standpoint, obviously growing up down there, I’d love to go home,” he said of South Florida. “But from a football standpoint, it’s a very talented offense.”

White has looked good at times, poor at others. For his career, the graduate of Davie University School has eight touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 75.4 rating and he’s 2-5 as a starter. There are more accomplished options.

Tyler Huntley, Phillip Walker and Brett Rypien are restricted free agents, so none are realistic for Miami.

The Dolphins had No. 2 quarterbacks secured within 36 hours of the start of free agency the past two years; Bridgewater made sense in theory but the Dolphins and Bridgewater were simply unlucky.

They’ll need to prioritize that as much this year and make sure they get it right.

THIS AND THAT

▪ I’m hearing that Miami wants to add at least one new veteran at safety. Whether it’s a sure-fire starter like Jordan Poyer - or more of a No. 3 - must still play out.

And I continue to hear at least one veteran cornerback will be added.

▪ The Dolphins’ picks in the draft, announced this past week, will be at 51 (second round), 77 (New England’s third rounder acquired in the DeVante Parker trade), 84 (third round), 197 (sixth round) and 238 (seventh round).

The Dolphins have no fourth or fifth round picks.

▪ McDaniel said he expects a “big jump” from linebacker Channing Tindall in Year 2. Tindall, who played just nine defensive snaps as a rookie, and Jerome Baker are the only inside linebackers under contract next season.

▪ According to the NFL player’s union, the Dolphins spent $244.7 million in cash for the 2022 season, seventh-most in the league.

▪ Per USA Today track and field reporter Tyler Dragon, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill ran a 6.70 in the men’s 60 meters at the USA Track and Field Masters Indoor Championship on Saturday, winning the race.