{"id":756558,"date":"2026-02-16T19:05:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/756558\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T19:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:05:28","slug":"dolphins-start-a-tough-rebuild-by-cutting-tyreek-hill-and-bradley-chubb-and-likely-tua-tagovailoa-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/756558\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins start a tough rebuild by cutting Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb, and likely Tua Tagovailoa too"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Jeff Hafley agreed to become the Miami Dolphins\u2019 next head coach<\/a>, he had to understand what was coming in the short term. The only way for the Dolphins to move forward was to clean house. It wasn\u2019t going to be a fun short-term experience, but it needed to be done.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins started the week by beginning that process. Bradley Chubb, acquired in 2022 from the Denver Broncos for a package that included a first-round draft pick, was reportedly cut<\/a>. Tyreek Hill<\/a>, acquired in 2022 for five picks including a first-rounder and coming off a serious knee injury, is reportedly out too. Guard James Daniels, signed to a three-year, $24 million deal less than a year ago, was also let go.<\/p>\n

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And everyone is waiting for resolution on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. If he is let go, the resulting record dead cap hit will certainly signal the obvious: This is a full rebuild. Check back in 2027 (or 2028 \u2026 or 2029), Dolphins fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we piece this thing together, it’s going to take time and there’s going to be a lot of hard work, but then it’s going to be built the right way,\u201d Hafley said<\/a> when he was introduced to the media.<\/p>\n

The \u201cgoing to take time\u201d part of that seemed most relevant Monday.<\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is not expected back with the team next season. (Photo by Carmen Mandato\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

(Carmen Mandato via Getty Images)Dolphins roster being turned over<\/p>\n

When the Dolphins were getting aggressive in trading and paying players like Hill and Chubb, they viewed themselves as contenders. A hot start in 2023, which included a 70-point eruption against the Broncos, turned out to be a mirage.<\/p>\n

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For all of the big moves the Dolphins made, they never even won a playoff game. They still have the longest gap between playoff wins. Their last one came in 2000. Hafley started his coaching career in 2001.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what will make the rebuild sting even worse. There wasn\u2019t a division title, home playoff game or playoff win to show for anything the past few years. And now it gets torn down again.<\/p>\n

[Get more Dolphins news: Miami team feed<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Cutting Hill, Chubb and Daniels cleared $34.4 million in cap space, according to Spotrac<\/a>, which the Dolphins had to do to get cap compliant. There\u2019s not a ton of cap space to work with. There are a couple of extra third-round picks via trades and the Dolphins will get a quality player at 11th overall in April. But they don\u2019t have a lot of difference makers on the roster, and it\u2019s possible new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan has other moves planned, via more cuts or a trade of someone like Jaylen Waddle. There will be a lot of players on the way out, and not a lot of resources to bring new talent in.<\/p>\n

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Miami\u2019s roster could look bleak this season. Sullivan knew what he had to do to clean up a cap mess and a roster that wasn\u2019t good enough to compete in the AFC East. It still will be difficult. And the Dolphins haven\u2019t even figured out the quarterback situation.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins\u2019 quarterback dilemma<\/p>\n

Sullivan was asked when he first met the media about what happens next for Tagovailoa and the Dolphins\u2019 future at quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously that’s a huge question looming over the organization,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI’d be na\u00efve to think that everybody doesn’t understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems impossible for the Dolphins to reconcile with Tagovailoa after his play bottomed out, especially after his most recent concussion, and he was benched last season. The Dolphins would take on a staggering $99.2 million in dead money to cut him, which would be a record, and if it\u2019s designated as a post-June 1 move it would be $67.2 million this year and $31.8 million in 2027, according to Over The Cap<\/a>. Miami wants to trade Tagovailoa but that seems unlikely unless the Dolphins take on most of his salary. You can overcome a massive dead hit, as the Broncos did with Russell Wilson, but it\u2019s difficult. Especially when there\u2019s a ton of other dead cap hits on the books. And the Dolphins don\u2019t have an obvious path to get a new quarterback, especially considering how few can\u2019t-miss quarterback prospects there are in this year\u2019s NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

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The Dolphins seem destined to go into the season with a cheap quarterback, putting that decision off a season, very few blue-chip players to build around, plenty of rookies and bargain free agents contributing, with a first-time NFL head coach leading it all in a division that includes the Patriots and Bills, two very good teams. It\u2019s going to be ugly.<\/p>\n

Dolphins fans are used to ugly. They haven\u2019t seen their team win a playoff game in a quarter century. But this seems different. It might be a while before there\u2019s hope again in Miami.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Jeff Hafley agreed to become the Miami Dolphins\u2019 next head coach, he had to understand what was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":756559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[215,18700,258,217,7,5855,14706,216,251,2087,6,208,572,3452,1089],"class_list":{"0":"post-756558","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-bills","9":"tag-bradley-chubb","10":"tag-denver-broncos","11":"tag-dolphins","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-james-daniels","14":"tag-jaylen-waddle","15":"tag-miami","16":"tag-miami-dolphins","17":"tag-miamidolphins","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-patriots","20":"tag-russell-wilson","21":"tag-tua-tagovailoa","22":"tag-tyreek-hill"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116081874998908478","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756558","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=756558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}