Mike McDaniel is far from assured of a fifth season as Dolphins HC, but he has reestablished some momentum since a rough start. However, the Dolphins taking a one-sided loss in Pittsburgh all but crushed any hopes of a playoff berth.
The McDaniel storyline moves back to center stage, and the player he is most closely tied to once again did not play well in cold weather. Tua Tagovailoa‘s dud in Pittsburgh has left the Dolphins 6-8, and both his and McDaniel’s futures are up in the air. For now, McDaniel did not guarantee Tagovailoa would keep his job to close the season.
McDaniel called the team’s quarterback play “not good enough” (via NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe) Monday night. The fourth-year HC said everything was on the table regarding a QB move, with a decision coming Wednesday. The Dolphins’ staff is believed to have considered such a move previously, per veteran insider Jordan Schultz.
Tagovailoa and McDaniel have been joined at the hip since the HC’s 2022 hire. The former 49ers OC revitalized the ex-Alabama star, with Tua leading the NFL in key passing categories each year from 2022-24 after a sluggish start to his career. The southpaw passer’s resurgence led to the Dolphins giving him a four-year, $212.4MM extension in July 2024. That contract complicates the futures of both Tagovailoa and McDaniel, as it will be quite difficult for the Dolphins to move that deal in a 2026 trade due to the guarantees remaining on it.
Tagovailoa is owed $54MM guaranteed for 2026 and does not carry the best reputation around the league. Both these factors limit his trade value, and an inconsistent 2025 obviously brings concern about Miami’s ability to compete for a Super Bowl with Tua at the controls. For McDaniel to make his consideration of Tua public potentially points to the current Dolphins leader having enough support in the building — regarding a fifth year in charge — though he did not answer a question pertaining to this potential demotion impacting his 2026 status, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson.
Miami does not have good options behind Tagovailoa, having already toggled between Zach Wilson and Quinn Ewers on its depth chart behind the longtime starter. Wilson is tied to a one-year, $6MM deal; Ewers arrived as a seventh-round pick, though the Texans product was expected to go off the board much earlier. Ewers leapfrogged Wilson on the Dolphins’ depth chart earlier this year, only to fall back to the QB3 level soon after.
The NFL’s leader in yards per attempt in 2022, passing yards in 2023 and completion percentage last year, Tagovailoa has made 76 career starts. His extension — one the Dolphins probably now regret — runs through the 2028 season. The first realistic out in the deal comes in 2027, when a $31.8MM dead cap hit — a figure that could be split over two years via a post-June 1 designation — would come in the event of a release.
The Dolphins benching Tagovailoa now only to regroup around he and McDaniel in 2026 would obviously not inspire confidence, but McDaniel is still believed to have ownership support. The close to this season will test that support, as a new GM would need to accept working with a potential lame-duck HC — in the event Stephen Ross follows through on rumors he will stay the course — and HC-GM misalignment has been a strategy teams are beginning to avoid in the grand scheme. With Tagovailoa potentially being benched, Miami’s HC situation will be an area to closely monitor before Black Monday.
Ewers time!
Make Zach Wilson Great Again
Again?
Should say ” Relevant” again if even that.
Please bench him. There is no bigger waste of money in the league right now. Even Bobby Bonilla has more worth to the Mets payroll than Tua does for the Dolphins.
The real issue is, are they keeping him or are they gonna dump and take the gigantic cap hit? He’s a mental midget, so if they bench him and still keep him, they’ve created drama and bruised his fragile ego for no reason and he’ll have to play all next season with a pacifier in his mouth, while McDaniel (or whoever the coach is) is spouting nonsense about how good and accurate he is and what a great team leader he is. If you’re keeping him/stuck with him for next year, there’s no reason to bench him now.
We don’t discuss baseball on an NFL blog!
Might as well see if they have anything in Ewers. They’re fully aware at this point what Tua can and cannot do. Unless they’re willing to pull off Russell Wilson 2.0, they’re stuck with Tua next year and they won’t be drafting high enough to get a new starting quarterback in the draft in 2026.
He’s looked really off his game this year, but when your alternatives are Zach Wilson and Quinn Ewers, it can always get even worse.
It’s like his body is aging in dog years.
He’s had several concussions. It’s amazing he’s still playing. That contract was insane knowing his medical history. Besides, I thought they were officially eliminated last night. If you have any hope of getting a bounce back season from him next year, he should be rested now.
Miami was indeed eliminated with the loss at Pittsburgh.
Can’t believe it’s been 3+ years of McDaniel at the helm
……and I can’t believe Nixon was President the last time they won a Super Bowl, yet here we are.
Unless you really believe you have something in one of the backups I’d keep going with Tua. See if he can’t rebound a little and build some value back up.
Then again going with backups is a nice way to improve the draft pick
Going with Tua is a nice way to improve the draft pick.
So Miami should tank vs. Tampa Bay and New England, two clubs currently in the playoff hunt?
So, TT had a 113 rating and more passing yards than AR. TT offense only gained 63 yards on the ground and his defense gave up 28 points and it’s HIS fault? That does NOT make ANY sense.
So you’re saying you didn’t watch the game. Got it.
The game plan was dumb. 15 carries for the running backs after a winning streak running the ball. Tua had the interception but the score stayed 0-0. McDaniel just cant win a big game in the cold. Tua didnt get it done last night but his career isnt finished yet.
I did not watch the game last night but the numbers didn’t seem terrible when it was called a “dud”. Was he much worse than the numbers indicate? Was it garbage time padding?
He was much, much worse than the numbers show. I was embarrassed for him, and I hate the Dolphins.
Yeah pretty much, only threw for 65 yards in the first 3 quarters and 188 yards alone in the 4th (starting the 4th, it was already 21-3).
He just doesn’t look good and his reads/ability to throw in the middle has mostly been taken away by opposing defenses. He either needs to go to another team with a different scheme or needs play makers to help him adjust with the increases in coverage through the middle.
Trade him to the Browns for Watson and Gabriel
I say make phone calls for Mac Jones and try to dump off Tua to somebody while eating most of his salary.
Well, if Philip Rivers can make a comeback the Dolphins could cycle back to Fitzmagic (who is actually younger).
Ryan Fitzpatrick ain’t giving up his gig with Prime Video just to QB a team that’s been eliminated from contention.
The only deal I can see that possibly makes sense is swapping Tua for Kyler, which would be entertaining in a way. Otherwise maybe Atlanta would be willing to take a chance if they’re souring on Penix & both clubs can make the money work. As much as Las Vegas COULD make sense, playing in 2 cold weather cities each season torpedos that idea.
Its amazing how quiet everyone was during the winning streak. When they finally lost to a better team in the cold, the vultures come out in full force … haha. The criticism for Daniel and Tags is warranted but the team has underachieved all season. McDaniel cant coach while shivering.
Change of scenery deal, who says no. Kyler for Tua
Saw video of Dolphins lack of effort last night when they should’ve been running hurry up offense in 4th Q. He should be gone as HC next season as it all starts with him in that situation.
Trade TT to Raiders. Raiders already has experience in trading for has-been QB.