Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is trending on social media this weekend for an incredibly foolish reason.
The 2025 regular season wasn’t too kind to Tagovailoa, who had 2,660 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions before getting benched for Quinn Ewers. Most people expect him to be replaced in the coming weeks, especially since the Dolphins have a new coach and general manager in Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan, respectively.
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“You have to have competition at that position and I think that’s probably where the Dolphins have to go,” legendary quarterback Dan Marino said. “Just have competition there and see what that is. I’m not in the position to say it’s going to be free agency or the guys we have or whatever that may be, but I do know when you have competition at that position it’s going to make it better and better and that’s what the Dolphins need to do.”
Dec 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) looks to throw in the second quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
As we wait for the start of the new league year to begin, Tagovailoa is going viral because of a rude joke by a social media user operating under the name of “Adam Ferrell.”
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This blatant parody account posted a photoshopped image of Tagovailoa along with the caption: “A picture of Tua Tagovailoa walking in Miami this morning has gone viral as it appears the young Hawaiian QB has gained about 10 pounds since the season ended. Concerning.”
Although this photo was clearly edited, some NFL fans genuinely thought Tagovailoa drastically changed his appearance this offseason.
What’ll happen to Tua this offseason?
According to ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler, the Dolphins are expected to release Tagovailoa this offseason. His cap hit for the 2026 season is currently set to be $56.2 million.
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“Well, people I’ve talked to around the league with other teams believe that Miami is going to have to eventually release to a Tua Tagovailoa, because of that $54 million in (contract) guarantees,” Fowler said, via On3. “The hope would be that Miami could pull off a trade where a new team would take on and absorb a lot of that money, or at least a portion of it. Well, teams don’t really want to do that, so they might wait this out and see if they pay for it all.”
If the Dolphins cut Tagovailoa, he should have a few suitors on the open market. And at the very least his redemption arc would certainly make for an interesting storyline.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Feb 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.