{"id":744256,"date":"2026-02-11T06:35:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T06:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/744256\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T06:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T06:35:38","slug":"the-potential-tua-tagovailoa-scenario-to-help-save-face-in-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/744256\/","title":{"rendered":"The potential Tua Tagovailoa scenario to help save face in trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Miami Dolphins<\/a> are undergoing a significant leadership change following a disappointing 2025 season, leading NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport to express that he would be \u201csurprised\u201d if Tua Tagovailoa remains with the franchise<\/a>. With general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley now at the helm, the team is signaling a full reset.<\/p>\n

Rapoport suggests that while Miami would likely need to absorb a massive portion of Tagovailoa’s contract to facilitate a move, the organization appears willing to eat roughly $30 million to ensure a fresh start.<\/p>\n

This shift comes as Tagovailoa finished the 2025 campaign with a career-high 15 interceptions and a career-low quarterback rating.<\/p>\n

However, the financials behind such a move are daunting<\/a>, as Tagovailoa is currently in the middle of a lucrative contract extension. Cutting the quarterback outright would result in a $99 million dead cap hit, the largest in league history, as noticed by ESPN.<\/p>\n

Even a post-June 1 designation would leave Miami with $67 million in dead money for the 2026 season alone, surpassing the previous single-year record set by Russell Wilson.<\/p>\n

Releasing him would essentially be the largest admission of financial error in NFL history, making a trade the only viable, albeit difficult, alternative for the front office.<\/p>\n

To make a trade attractive, the Dolphins might swallow the $15 million option bonus and a portion of his 2026 salary.<\/p>\n

This would transition Tagovailoa’s deal into a one-year commitment in the $30 million range, similar to the contract Sam Darnold signed with Seattle.<\/p>\n

Such a restructure would allow an acquiring team to view him as a scheme-dependent starter capable of managing an elite offense without a long-term burden.<\/p>\n

Despite these efforts, his trade value is expected to be minimal, likely returning no more than a 4th-round selection.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins’ ability to absorb Tagovailoa’s salary is further complicated<\/a> by the fact that they must also release Tyreek Hill this offseason.<\/p>\n

Hill\u2019s season was cut short by a severe knee injury, and his declining performance at age 32 makes his departure nearly inevitable to gain cap compliance.<\/p>\n

For 2026, Miami remains focused on clearing these bloated contracts to eventually push toward the top of the AFC East.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Miami Dolphins are undergoing a significant leadership change following a disappointing 2025 season, leading NFL Network insider…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":744257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[217,7,216,251,2087,6,832,3452],"class_list":{"0":"post-744256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-dolphins","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-dolphins","12":"tag-miamidolphins","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nfl-rumors","15":"tag-tua-tagovailoa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116050613210511895","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/744257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}