Miami Dolphins' Skylar Thompson outshines Mike White in QB battle

TAMPA - Skylar Thompson rolled out to the right and strong-armed a 25-yard rope on an out route to receiver Mike Harley, Jr.

It's hard to say that Friday's Miami Dolphins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers preseason finale - the Bucs won, 24-14 - meant much at all.

Except perhaps to Thompson.

Thompson outshined fellow backup quarterback Mike White.

And he just may have won the backup quarterback job.

"I had a lot of fun tonight," Thompson said after the game, adding, "I feel like I've left everything on the table. And I have no regrets."

Oh, it's possible the Dolphins keep Thompson and White on the 53-man roster at the deadline of 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Schad Column Miami Dolphins: What we learned this summer

Skylar Thompson: Did he win Miami Dolphins' backup job?

But Thompson is younger, more athletic, stronger-armed, and, well, he has outperformed White in summer practices and preseason games. It seems he's earned a roster spot.

"So with Skyler, he got the opportunity to play early in his career," coach Mike McDaniel said. "I thought as a rookie he demonstrated some aggressiveness and ability to make plays in this league. And then it's been about, since then, training his craft, really owning the quarterback position within the offense. And I thought this preseason he's exhibited growth in what that means. It means you are the leader of the unit that you have to orchestrate, play calls, decision making, all those things. I thought he took a good step forward tonight."

The Dolphins could try to keep Thompson or White on the practice squad.

In that scenario, they could sign the third quarterback to the 53-man roster if two quarterbacks were banged up during the week.

Then, even if not on the active game-day roster, that third quarterback could enter the game in case of an emergency in which the top two quarterbacks were injured.

"We have a lot of information to take in I'm not in any position to name 53-man rosters and or backup quarterbacks or anything," McDaniel said. "I just I thought that (Thompson) was competitive and made some plays and kind of got us going tonight."

The Dolphins' offense is not very simple and so it's not like Miami is in a rush to add a quarterback unfamiliar with the system.

There is a financial consideration here.

Mike White's salary could be Miami Dolphins consideration

White is scheduled to count $5.1 million against the cap in 2024. But they would have only a $1.71 million cap hit if they moved on.

Thompson has a cap hit of $1 million.

On Friday, White was 5-for-9 for 37 yards, and a passer rating of 65.5.

On White, McDaniel said: "I thought he faced some challenging situations. I thought he did a good job getting the team in and out of the huddle and played clean in that way. I think there was some opportunities. that used in there against their starters and competed and did some things that I was happy with that we've been emphasizing.

Thompson's final numbers were: 19-for-27 for 190 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and a passer rating of 99.3

"There was a lot of plays tonight that I felt growth and I felt the reward of putting time in to getting better," Thompson said.

Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins QB battle could be Skylar Thompson over Mike White