Flores: The Tua Story That Went Viral; How He Still Might End Up with Deshaun Watson

The former Miami Dolphins head coach had a rocky relationship with Tua Tagovailoa but now could wind up with Deshaun Watson after all

Head coach Brian Flores' relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been a hot topic of conversation since Flores was fired as Miami Dolphins head coach, and it reached another level Thursday — if only for a short while.

But while former NFL GM — and a colleague of Flores in New England — walked back his exact cooments from his GM Shuffle Podcast, it remains true that Flores wasn't necessarily a big believer in Tua.

In addressing the various head-coaching openings around the NFL on his podcast, Lombardi got around to talking about owner Stephen Ross' search for a replacement for Flores and the possibility of Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll taking the job when he dropped this bomb.

"The Miami question for me is, which I think they're going to find out if people are honest in the interview — a lot of people are never honest in the interview; they tell the owners what they want to hear," Lombardi began. "They tell the GMs what they want to hear. But if you're really honest, are you going to sit there and say, 'I can build a team around Tua'? Because that's what Ross wants to hear.

"That's what Brian Flores wouldn't say. We've seen all the conversations that Flores basically had with Tua where Flores told Tua at halftime of the Tennessee game — this has all been reported — I don't think Flores was shy about telling him, 'Hey, I should have picked Mac Jones.' I don't think he was shy about telling him that. In fact, I know that he wasn't.

"I remember I said there was commentary between the head coach and Tua during the season and I wouldn't reveal what the conversation was. Well, the conversation was, 'Hey, if I'd have (known) you were going to be this bad, I would have picked Mac Jones.'

"So the next guy coming in, if Flores felt that way, how is the next guy going to come in and fix it? You say well, they're going to run an offense that suits what Tua does. They ARE running an offense that suits what Tua does. It's the only offense you CAN run. It's the only one you CAN run. You've got to run an RPO where he can throw little passes and run after the catch. So if (Brian) Daboll has any other options, I would think he would stay clear of Miami, only because he knows the pitfalls that (Flores) went through."

Lombardi later took to Twitter to clarify his statements.

I misspoke on the pod--and those were my words for Flores, not his. https://t.co/DgQ2JuHwpD

— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) January 13, 2022

The bottom line remains that Flores wasn't necessarily a believer in Tua, while it's been suggested he was a big fan of Deshaun Watson.

Which brings us to the other interesting development as it pertains to Flores, the firing of David Culley after one year as head coach of the Houston Texans.

Why do we bring it up?

Well, the Texans GM happens to be Nick Caserio, who was director of player personnel in New England from 2008-20.

So putting two and two together, it's pretty easy to put Flores at the top of the list of candidates to become the new Texans head coach.

And that brings us to Deshaun Watson and all those reports that one of the main factors in him being willing to waive his no-trade clause last year only for the Dolphins being his desire to play for Brian Flores, well, you can see where we're going with this.

It's only been well established that Watson has great disdain for Texans owner Cal McNair, but could his affection for Flores make him revisit his demand to be traded — once his legal issues are settled obviously?

If he doesn't end up with Houston, Flores already has an interview scheduled with the Chicago Bears and his hometown New York Giants also have been mentioned as a possibility for him.

Stay tuned.