1 of 5 | Left to right, Miami Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, owner Stephen Ross and coach Jeff Hafley pose at a news conference Thursday at the Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens, Fla. Photo by Alex Butler/UPI

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla., Jan. 22 (UPI) — The Miami Dolphins will have a “very active” quarterback hunt, but are open to Tua Tagovailoa‘s return, general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said.

Sullivan, who was hired Jan. 9, and coach Jeff Hafley, who was hired Monday, met with reporters for their introductory news conference Thursday in Miami Gardens, Fla.

“Obviously, that is a huge question looming over the organization,” Sullivan said, when asked about Tagovailoa’s future. “I’d be naive to think that everybody doesn’t understand that.”

Tagovailoa, who signed a four-year, $212.4 million extension with the Dolphins in 2024, but was benched this season, did not attend. He said earlier this month that he would support moving to another team this off-season.

Sullivan said he has yet to speak to Tagovailoa about his future. Former coach Mike McDaniel, who was fired Jan. 8, made the decision to bench the franchise quarterback Dec. 17 in favor of rookie Quinn Ewers.

The Dolphins will have the No. 11 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Alabama’s Ty Simpson are among the top quarterback prospects in the draft class.

The Dolphins also could decide to acquire a quarterback in free agency. Malik Willis, who was with Sullivan and Hafley and the Green Bay Packers for the last two seasons, could be among the top targets available.

Former Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Daniel Jones of the Indianapolis Colts and Marcus Mariota of the Washington Commanders are among the other candidates.

Sullivan said he respected Tagovailoa and added that Ewers “did a great job” at the end of the season.

“We have to figure that out,” Sullivan said. “We will. But today is not the day I can give you that answer.”

The Dolphins would eat $99 million in dead salary cap money if they released Tagovailoa before June 1. If designated as a post-June 1 release, they could spread that money over two years.

They also could attempt to trade the six-year veteran. They would absorb a $45.2 million dead salary cap hit if they traded Tagovailoa before the 2026 season. They could split that hit over two seasons if they trade him after June 1.

During his time with the Packers, Sullivan said he learned many lessons, including keys to finding success from the quarterback position. The Packers used just three full-time starting quarterbacks since 1992 — Jordan Love, Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre. During that same time frame, the Dolphins deployed more than a dozen.

“I’ve learned that, if you can help it, don’t wait until you don’t have a quarterback to find one,” Sullivan said.

The Packers famously acquired their last three full-time starting quarterbacks while Pro Bowl passers remained under contract and on their roster. They started that pattern by trading for Brett Favre to replace Don Majkowski. They drafted Rodgers while Favre was still on their roster before picking up Love at the end of Rodgers’ tenure.

“We are going to invest in that position every year if we can, depending on where we are as a football team,” Sullivan said. “It’ll be at different values, but we will draft quarterbacks every year, if not every other year, because I think you have to.

“If you hit on a guy, great. If you hit on two, you have trade value. If you look at the history of the Green Bay Packers, all the way back to [general manager] Ron Wolf, Brett Favre’s backups were Matt Hasselbeck, Kurt Warner, Aaron Brooks and Ty Detmer. You can go down the line.

“I can’t say enough about the importance of it. We will be very active in acquiring quarterbacks to make sure that that room is as deep as we can make it.”

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, advisers — and Hall of Fame quarterbacks — Dan Marino and Troy Aikman, and several Dolphins players and front office members attended Thursday’s session at the Baptist Health Training Complex.

Ross said he was “equally as frustrated” as fans about the franchise’s NFL-leading 25-year playoff win drought.

“I look for this to be a new beginning,” Ross said. “You could see what was happening during the season. We started early so we could be very thorough in our search.”

Hafley, who served as the Packers’ defensive coordinator in 2024 and 2025, said his core beliefs for the Dolphins will be trust, belief and toughness.

“That’s how we’re going to do it here, with a staff that’s going to buy in and a group of men who are going to give everything that they’ve got,” Hafley said. “I cannot wait to get started.”

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (C) celebrates with teammates after the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings in Game 7 to win the World Series in Toronto on November 1, 2025. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo