On the heels of an ugly loss to the Steelers, the Dolphins are benching quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. Rookie Quinn Ewers will start Week 16 against the Bengals.
Once 2-7, the Dolphins reeled off four straight wins to stay in the playoff picture. Their 28-15 defeat in Pittsburgh on Monday officially eliminated them from postseason contention. Tagovailoa went 22 of 28 for 253 yards and a touchdown, but he also took four sacks and threw his NFL-worst 15th interception. Head coach Mike McDaniel said afterward that the Dolphins’ QB play was “not good enough.”
With McDaniel indicating on Tuesday that a QB change was under consideration, it’s not surprising the Dolphins will sit Tagovailoa on Sunday. However, the Dolphins certainly didn’t expect it to come to this 17 months after signing Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212.4MM extension in July 2024. Miami agreed to hand Tagovailoa $167.1MM in guaranteed money. He’s due $54MM in guarantees in 2026, which will make it difficult for the Dolphins to move on from the soon-to-be 28-year-old in the offseason.
Tagovailoa has dealt with numerous concussion issues throughout his career, but that didn’t stop the former fifth overall pick from logging quality production under McDaniel in previous seasons. The ex-Alabama standout registered a passer rating upward of 101.0 in each season from 2022-24. He led the NFL in yards per attempt in 2022 (8.9), finished first in passing yards in 2023 (4,624), and paced the league in completion percentage last year (72.9).
Tagovailoa has stayed healthy this year, but along with already posting a career-worst INT total, his other numbers have underwhelmed. While Tagovailoa has reached the 20-TD mark for the third time and completed 67.7% of passes, he has averaged just 6.9 yards per attempt en route to an 88.5 rating. His 36.7 QBR ranks 30th among 33 qualifying signal-callers. Only J.J. McCarthy, Geno Smith, and Cam Ward have been worse in that regard.
Having already parted with general manager Chris Grier in October, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and the next GM will have to decide how to proceed with Tagovailoa and McDaniel in the offseason. As mentioned, Tagovailoa’s contract is onerous. Designating Tagovailoa a post-June 1 release would leave the Dolphins with $99MM in dead cap spread over 2026 and ’27, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports notes. That would be the largest dead cap hit in league history, easily surpassing the $85MM the Broncos ate when they released Russell Wilson in March 2024. A trade would also be difficult to pull off, explains Jones, who points to Tagovailoa’s contract, his struggles in cold weather, and his less-than-stellar reputation around the league as roadblocks.
Even if he doesn’t reclaim the starting job, the Dolphins may have to ride it out for another year with Tagovailoa. Along with Tagovailoa, McDaniel has helped the Dolphins to the playoffs twice since 2022. He seems likely to return for a fifth season in 2026, but that’s not a sure thing yet.
For now, McDaniel will pin his hopes on Ewers, a seventh-rounder who enjoyed a strong starting career at Texas from 2022-24. The Dolphins have toggled between Ewers and veteran Zach Wilson in the No. 2 role this season. Wilson’s a former second overall pick who amassed 33 starts with the Jets from 2021-23, but he was a major letdown during that stretch. While the Dolphins gave Wilson a $6MM contract last March after he worked as a backup in Denver in 2024, this may go down as a second straight start-less campaign for the 26-year-old.
If nothing else, it’s a hilarious indictment of Zach Wilson. I guess it’s still possible for Ewers to show something, but he never even lived up to his recruitment hype in college. I wouldn’t be holding my breath now.
Seriously, Ewers’ deep throws look like punts.
Makes sense, they now know for sure Tua ain’t the guy and are eliminated, might as well jump into evaluation mode
Kyler and Tua both will be on the market. But who wants $50m average QB’s? Hard to trade them.
I figure the Steelers will pass on drafting a QB, will wait until March or April on Rodgers again, and then a guy like Kyler will end up here. It’s the Steelers Way these days
If the Dolphins would attach a first round draft selection with Tua, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Raiders take a gamble on seeing if a change of scenery helps him. Las Vegas will have cap space, and way too many holes to fill them all in free agency.
Worst case, Tua produces a season much like this, but you essentially bought an extra draft pick, plus time to see if next year’s QB crop looks anymore promising. Tua is basically your bridge QB for a year or two.
Best case, unlikely as it is, Tua hits, and then you’re rolling.
If Rodgers retires anything is possible. Tomlin seems like a veteran sort of guy so Kyler could be on the table
I don’t agree with this. Does Ewers really give McDaniel the best shot at keeping his job? I get that he has struggled at times, but benching him doesn’t do anyone favors. He still needs to show his trade value if he’s playing on the field. Maybe Raiders might bite in the offseason, since it’s close to Hawaii for him?
Putting him on the field may also decrease his trade value.
The next two games will not change the perception of Tua. Even if he balls out, which he very clearly won’t, he is not a leader. He has made several miscues in the media and teams and players take notice.
Its not for 2026 just tanking the rest of this year.
Imagine making $54mill plus to sit on a wooden bench. Insane
I dont agree with it, especially soon after a four game winning streak but the Dolphins do need to see if Ewers can respond. Its obvious that Waddle isnt nearly as good without another star opposite him. Imagine if Waller had been more available during the year?