Dolphins urged to cut ties with Tua Tagovailoa — but are they stuck? originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Miami Dolphins have signaled that they don’t believe Tua Tagovailoa is their quarterback of the future.
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They just might have a tough time getting rid of him.
In a new article on Wednesday, ESPN’s Aaron Schatz writes that Tagovailoa is the player on the Dolphins most in need of a change of scenery.
The problem is that Tagovailoa’s contract won’t make that easy.
“Most teams consider his $54 million in guarantees untradable unless the Dolphins cover a significant portion of the contract,” Schatz writes. “The Dolphins would get hit with $99.2 million in salary cap charges if they cut Tagovailoa before he receives a $14 million option bonus on March 13.”
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Maybe the money wouldn’t be as scary if Tagovailoa hadn’t struggled so much of late.
“Former coach Mike McDaniel benched Tagovailoa with three games left in the 2025 season, so it’s clear the organization is trying to figure out how to shed his huge contract,” Schatz writes. “Tagovailoa ranked 26th out of 28 qualifying quarterbacks with a career-low 37.6 QBR, and through his 14 games, he also led the NFL with a career-high 15 interceptions.”
There’s been a decent amount of overhaul in Miami this offseason, but if anything, that makes Tagovailoa even less key to keep around, because the new decision-makers aren’t the ones who invested in him.
There was a large stretch early in Tagovailoa’s career where it looked like he had a promising future. Maybe in a new situation, he can still tap into at least some of that.
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But until Miami moves off of Tua, his name will be involved in rumors of trades and of simply being released, even at the massive cost. It seems the Dolphins are just about done with him.
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