Tua Time is Over in Miami as Dolphins Will Begin a QB Search

I didn’t think I would have to write this article, but I see more and more Dolphins fans on social media every day twisting themselves into pretzels trying to come up with a convoluted way for Tua Tagovailoa to be on the Miami Dolphins roster in 2026.

Save your time and energy.

Tua won’t be on the Miami Dolphins in 2026.

I know since the dead cap hit is so big, whether you release him pre-June 1st or post-June 1st, why not keep him around? Yeah, no, not happening.

This notion that Miami needs competition at the quarterback position, so why keep Tua around to compete? Yeah, no, not happening.

The thought that maybe another coach can “fix” Tua is out there. Yeah, no, we already tried that once.

Was the logic behind Miami promoting Bobby Slowik to offensive coordinator to maintain continuity with Tua?  Yeah, no chance in hell!

Tua is gone, folks, and if you think there is even a 1% chance he is staying, you are lying to yourself.

I know Tua is popular with a subsection of Dolphins fans.

He has a cult-like following where the Tua Truthers will never blame him for anything, and it’s always someone else’s fault when he plays poorly.

But, time to put the Kool-Aid down and join the rest of us in reality.

In the time Tua has been on the Miami Dolphins, he has had two head coaches, Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel.

Both were fired in large part because Tua didn’t live up to the #5 overall pick of the draft, or, in McDaniel’s case, for that huge contract he was given.

Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley would have to be the dumbest two people alive to have this guy be a part of this organization when all he is successful at is getting people fired who believe in him.

Sullivan and Hafley have waited their entire lives for the jobs they just got; there is no way they are going to let Tua screw it up for them.

Oh, not to mention there is Tua’s contract.

The dead cap money to cut Tua is insane, whether pre-June 1st or post-June 1st. Want to know what is more insane?

If you keep Tua around as a 2nd- or 3rd-string quarterback, and he finds a way to get hurt.

The more guarantees kick in on his contract, and then it’s really painful to move on from him after the 2026 season.

And with Tua’s injury history, he could find a way to get injured, whether as a scout-team quarterback or by slipping in the shower after practice.

It’s not worth the risk.

The Tua experiment is over.

I know that for many fans who were “ALL IN” on Tua, it is sad to see it come to an end.

Some say Tua was a bust for the Dolphins; others say he wasn’t technically a bust, he was just a big disappointment.

Phrase it however you want: his time in Miami is over.

The national media critics who bashed Tua from his rookie season onward were ultimately correct.

The die-hard fans who were part of the Cult of Tua ended up having egg on their face and were wrong.

It’s in everyone’s best interest (including Tua’s) for all parties to move on.

The Dolphins will never move on as a franchise as long as Tua is on this roster, even as a 2nd- or 3rd-string quarterback.

Tua himself will have a chance to resurrect his career with another team in another city; it’s not going to happen in Miami.

So if you, Joe Fan, are still trying to justify why Miami keeping Tua is a good thing or the smart move, stop.

Because you are putting more thought into this than the Dolphins’ new front office is.

Tua will be gone, and it can’t happen soon enough.