Dolphins' trade of last first-round draft pick speaks of belief in Tua Tagovailoa | Schad

MIAMI GARDENS — As the kids say, Tua is "Him."

And the Dolphins' leadership has never more strongly agreed.

In trading for star pass rusher Bradley Chubb, the Dolphins now have, well, a total of zero first-round picks in the 2023 NFL draft.

At the start of this year, Miami had two. We don't need to rehash where the other one went.

But Tua Tagovailoa leads the NFL in passer rating and yards per pass and it is right and fair to connect Miami's willingness to deal its last first-round pick to their confidence in him.

"You're right on all fronts," coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday. "I fully see Tua as our quarterback for this team and this franchise. He's an unbelievable talent."

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McDaniel said Tua basically had him at hello.

"It's something since I've been here I've known," McDaniel said.

And now everyone knows. The Dolphins believe that Tua is their franchise quarterback, for 2022 and for sure 2023 and probably 2024, too.

They are going to build around Tua, which was the hope and the best result all along.

"That's why we drafted him where we did," Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said Wednesday when I asked if he now believes Tua can be elite. "We believed."

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We won't get into how often Miami texted or Facebook-messaged Tom Brady or Deshaun Watson in recent years in this space. It's far less relevant now. Because Tua is doing what we thought, including, yes, me, I thought, he could do when Miami drafted him.

"There is some clarity," McDaniel declared, in regard to the quarterback search being over.

All decisions NFL teams make are through the prism of their quarterback situation. Miami feels like everything is different now.

In 2019, the Dolphins were signing players off the street and suiting them up on Sunday.

This year, the Dolphins sent a private jet to scoop up Pro Bowler Chubb and solid running back Jeff Wilson, planning to suit them up on Sunday at Chicago.

Grier says he won't rest until the Dolphins win a Super Bowl.

"The window is now for this team," star receiver Tyreek Hill said Wednesday.

A message has been sent — loudly and clearly — to players as well as fans.

The rebuild is really, really, really over now. It's time to think big and win big.

“We’re not afraid to talk about Super Bowls here,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday.

Grier deserves tons of credit for stockpiling assets and, for the most part, very wisely spending them. Yes, Grier saw recent online graphics that illustrated Chubb, Hill and Jaylen Waddle as byproducts of the Laremy Tunsil-to-Houston-and-third-pick-to-San Francisco deals.

Grier should screenshot that graphic and look at it whenever he's having a bad day.

Chris Grier adds stars like Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb and Terron Armstead

The Dolphins roster has been transformed from one star (Xavien Howard) in 2019 to lots of stars in 2022, including Howard, Hill, Terron Armstead, Chubb, Jaylen Waddle and Byron Jones (who is injured).

"I think it's been obvious since Day One that this is the most talented team that I've been on," Miami tight end Durham Smythe said, glancing around the spacious and luxurious Fins locker room.

And the Dolphins have potential stars in players like Jevon Holland, Jaelan Phillips and Christian Wilkins. And, yes, at this point it is reasonable to suggest Tua just might live up to his star status pedigree.

"He's playing at a tremendous level," Dolphins receiver Hill said Wednesday. "He's making me look right. Everything I said about him in the offseason. There you go. The head coach and the GM said it. Everyone else needs to go ahead and jump on board with it, too."

It's remarkable how quickly perceptions change. Opinions are fluid. And are based on new information.

It is also true that Tagovailoa has played only five full games this season.

So perhaps it's a bit premature for Rich Eisen of NFL Network to proclaim Tua is now, in fact, "elite."

Perhaps it's a bit premature for Dan Orlovsky of ESPN to proclaim the Dolphins legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

But this is a heck of a lot more fun than 2019.

And, let's be honest, Miami would not have made this bold move for Chubb if they did not believe they could contend with the likes of Buffalo and Kansas City in the AFC.

They are the only team to have beaten the Bills this season.

McDaniel, for his part, said he considers Miami "in the mix."

Grier, for his part, said he's not into predictions but there is "a chance to compete."

If Miami did not believe that Tagovailoa was capable of leading the franchise beyond say, Round 1 of the NFL playoffs, as early as this season, they don't sacrifice future assets.

It's important to examine what a team does and not just what it says.

That the Dolphins explored Watson and Brady tells you how they once viewed Tagoviloa in comparison to those talents.

That the Dolphins have moved chips in at this time tells you they feel much more confident in where Tua is now and how good he can be.

"We're very, very happy with how Tua is playing," Grier said. "We're really excited to watch him blossom. He's taking a leap."

McDaniel says he is very, very confident that Tua is the right starting quarterback for the Dolphins. McDaniel said that changes everything about how the team operates and, well, pretty much how well he sleeps at night.

Most NFL teams are continuously seeking an upgrade at quarterback.

The Dolphins have come to the conclusion they have their upgrade. And that he is, in fact, quite good enough.

Joe Schad is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tua Tagovailoa is officially the Miami Dolphins franchise quarterback