Is Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa dreaming of going to Dallas Cowboys for Dak Prescott’s job?
It’s never going to happen.
But a man can dream, can’t he?
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is projected to be one of the top five picks in the 2020 NFL draft, despite recovering from hip surgery that sidelined him midway through the 2019 season.
He has been projected to go to the Detroit Lions at No. 3 and would likely fall no further than the fifth pick, which is held by the Miami Dolphins.
But Tagovailoa doesn’t want a mammal on his helmet. He would give anything for a star.
In an interview with NFL Network, Tagovailoa said that he grew up a fan of the Dallas Cowboys and he would love nothing more than to be drafted by them.
“We’ve looked at teams,” Tagovailoa said. “We’ve talked about teams. We’ve talked to teams. Somebody might trade up and you could possibly drop or you could possibly go higher. We’ve been talking about all those scenarios.
With the Cowboys picking at 17, Tagovailoa’s dream isn’t likely to come true. He just won’t fall that far.
And there is no way the Cowboys are going to trade their way into the top of the draft to pick him. That would cost too much.
Besides, the Cowboys already have a franchise quarterback on the roster in Dak Prescott, however, he is in midst of trying to negotiate a long-term contract extension.
Tagovailoa had an answer for that.
“I’m not trying to bump him. I’ll learn under him,” Tagovailoa said of Prescott. “I’d handle it the way that the coaches there want to handle it. Honestly, I just want to be able to play again. I wouldn’t mind learning under whatever guy that’s the starter. Give me a whole year to rest up and then go back out and compete, but I just want to go back out and play.”
In his dream scenario, the Cowboys would place the franchise tag on Prescott, draft Tagovailoa then let him sit for a year. And then the team would simply part ways with Prescott after the coming season and make Tagovailoa the starter in 2021.
It’s similar to what the Kansas City Chiefs did a few seasons ago with Patrick Mahomes, who sat behind Alex Smith after being drafted in 2017. Smith was traded after the season, paving the way for Mahomes to become the starter in 2018, the season in which he threw 50 touchdowns.
But it’s just not realistic with the Cowboys picking at 17 and being in the middle of contract talks that could make Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history.
But Tagovailoa can dream, can’t he?
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 9:17 AM.
