Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s 23rd birthday came three weeks earlier, but it sure looks like the presents started to pile up on Friday.

That was the day the Miami Dolphins worked a whirlwind three-party deal with San Francisco and Philadelphia that pretty much put in the realm of possibility everything the Saint Louis School graduate could ask for entering his second NFL season.

If there was any doubt that 2021 is Tagovailoa’s year to do with as he can, then the Dolphins’ dispatching of their top pick, the third overall selection in the April 29 NFL Draft, to the 49ers took care of that.

Had the Dolphins been in the market to draft a quarterback to compete with Tagovailoa, they would not have sent the No. 3 pick elsewhere. Likewise if there was any thought of trying to construct a deal for Houston’s Deshaun Watson they would have held tight to the pick for barter.

Before the current allegations against Watson surfaced, a trade for the Texans’ quarterback made the most sense of any of the speculated moves to replace Tagovailoa.

In the what-have-you-done-for-us-this-minute NFL, where patience with quarterbacks can have a short shelf life, there had been growing speculation by season’s end that the Dolphins might seek an upgrade from Tagovailoa. Pulling him in weeks 11 and 16 in favor of veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick only served to underline the questions.

Never mind that the Dolphins had just invested a fifth overall selection in the 2020 draft to get Tagovailoa and then gave him basically just a half season to show what he could do. Or, that he had gone 6-3 as a starter for a team that finished 10-6.

“It’s amazing how much criticism and different things have been thrown his way,” Fitzpatrick said during an interview on the “Ross Tucker Football Podcast” just days before the trade. “It’s very difficult to play quarterback in the NFL, and I think we keep forgetting as fans that fact. It’s very difficult. The guy was a rookie last year and came in and went 6-3…” Fitzpatrick noted.

Between Fitzpatrick signing a free-agent deal with the Washington Football Team and the mounting accusations surrounding Watson, the draft and the possibility of using a No. 3 pick to acquire Zach Wilson or Justin Fields was the last barrier to cementing Tagovailoa’s status as the 2021 starter.

Then came the wrapping on the package. In swinging the deals with the 49ers and Eagles, the Dolphins emerged with the Nos. 6 and 18 picks in the first round. Together with two second-round selections, Miami has four picks in the Top 50 and plenty of opportunity to enhance the weaponry around Tagovailoa at receiver and running back or bolster what has been a young offensive line.

For example, they should have a shot at one of the top receivers from a pool that includes Tagovailoa’s former teammates at Alabama, DaVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, and Louisiana State’s Ja’Marr Chase. Along with the free-agent acquisition of Will Fuller V and a new offensive coordinator, that, hopefully, means the end of the dink and dunk passing packages the Dolphins too often restricted Tagovailoa to as a rookie.

Miami could also use a franchise running back and might secure one in Alabama’s Najee Harris, Clemson’s Travis Etienne or North Carolina’s Javonte Williams.

For Tagovailoa, that No. 1 on his jersey, now carries a lot more meaning.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.