Mike McDaniel confirmed the Tua Tagovailoa benching news. While Quinn Ewers will start, the fourth-year HC said (via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero) Miami’s longtime starter will drop to the third-string level.
This means Zach Wilson will work as Ewers’ backup. Tagovailoa’s demotion is quite similar to how the Jets initially proceeded when they benched Wilson in 2022. The former No. 2 overall pick dropped from first to third string when benched in November of that year. While he did move back up, the Jets attempted to keep Wilson out of the lineup by trading for Aaron Rodgers in April 2023.
McDaniel said (via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson) ownership did not influence this move; prior to the fourth-year HC’s presser, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler noted the same. McDaniel said this decision is entirely based on which quarterback gives the team its best chance to win. “This team needs convicted quarterback play — I thought Quinn gave us the best chance to do that,” McDaniel said, via ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques.
Still, moving a $53.1MM-per-year passer two spots down the depth chart is a big-picture decision — even if McDaniel did not say this call pertains to 2026 just yet. The Dolphins are taking a one-week approach at QB, per Fowler, though it is expected Ewers — a would-be mid-round pick who fell to the seventh — will be expected to start more than one game. When asked why Ewers received the call, Wilson — Tagovailoa’s backup for most of this season — expressed some frustration and confusion (via Jackson)
While Tua has handled the demotion “like a pro,” per Fowler, buzz about the Dolphins moving on in 2026 is already naturally emerging. The player McDaniel (and Tyreek Hill) elevated beginning in 2022 is owed $54MM guaranteed next year. This is split between a $39MM base salary and a $15MM option bonus. An additional $3MM (part of Tagovailoa’s 2027 compensation) would become guaranteed March 13, per ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
If the Dolphins were to move on via release before that date, it would bring a record-smashing — which is saying something given the Russell Wilson release price — $99.2MM in dead money. Miami would certainly choose to divide that between 2026 and ’27, but moving on from Tagovailoa in 2026 would create a considerable roster-building challenge regardless of where the salary cap settles.
Russell Wilson tagged the Broncos with nearly $85MM in dead cap in 2024. While Denver has managed to withstand that en route to the AFC’s No. 1 position as of this week, the team carried $53MM on its 2024 payroll and $32MM this year. That has meant the Broncos have not enjoyed the benefits from the Bo Nix rookie contract, though the team will in 2026 once the Wilson albatross comes off the payroll.
Were the Dolphins to find a trade taker willing to fork over Tua’s $54MM guaranteed in a pre-March 13 trade, they could drop the dead money to $45MM. We heard last month, however, league interest in Tagovailoa is minimal. Interest in the QB would make sense based on his highpoints in 2022 and ’23, though his injury issues undercut that. A trade would presumably require Miami to pick up a portion — perhaps a substantial piece — of the QB’s 2026 guarantees.
The Giants also made this move with Daniel Jones, moving Tommy DeVito from the No. 3 spot on the depth chart to No. 1 last year. New York soon released Jones. Tagovailoa’s dead money number — on an extension that runs through 2028 — will prevent any 2025 action on this contract.
Before the Jones demotion, Wilson received similar news. After being dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 on the Jets’ 2022 depth chart, he did climb back to the second-string position before making a start late that season. Robert Saleh benched Wilson in-game and had him slotted behind Rodgers following the 2023 trade. Though, Wilson reemerged to make 11 starts in 2023 after Rodgers’ Achilles tear.
Saleh benched Wilson again in ’23, and the Jets traded him to the Broncos — in a deal that involved the Jets picking up salary — in April 2024. Wilson was Denver’s third-stringer throughout last season but still fetched a $6MM guarantee from Miami — more than Mac Jones or Trey Lance received on the market — in free agency. However, McDaniel had demoted Wilson once before this season, dropping him from second to third. The embattled HC reversed course soon after, however, and Wilson backed up Tua. He will now back up Ewers, continuing a wildly disappointing career.
Damn that’s brutal. He’s still a millionaire but….dang
If anything, he’s to try and save his own hide by separating himself from the quarterback. Still too late I think, dolphins need a new coach badly.
Yup that’s it exactly. Wonder if he saves his job
*Craig from south park voice* If I could make 55 million as a third string qb in the NFL, I’d be so happy
What did McDaniel have to say about his inept clock management in the 4th quarter against the Steelers? How did he justify going for two successive 2 point conversions when the team was still trailing by a bunch of points? Like one point extra on a conversion would make much of a difference AND as it was, BOTH FAILED, so they BLEW their chances for a more “SAFE”, “AUTOMATIC” 1 pt conversion kick
I think that’s the least of their worries at this point. They werent winning that game either way and nothing short of Bane showing up and blowing up half the stadium was gonna change that.
PAT kicks are no longer automatic in the NFL. Just ask Jude McAtamney.
His career is crashing out as badly as Hawk-Tuah’s crypto coin.
Hawk…Tua?
The Broncos had the coaching and roster talent in place to withstand the huge dead money cap hits in 2024 and 2025. The Dolphins do not.
Maybe this will be a lesson to teams to not give big contracts to mediocre quarterbacks.
Kirk? Dak? Kyler?
I took so much crap for that take a couple of years ago.
He is having a bad year but not mediocre. Third all-time in wins for the Dolphins. How many other lefties have had success in this league since Vick?
Can the Browns absorb a trade salary this offseason?
I don’t love Tua, but you gotta like him more than what they have now.
If I were Tua – Im not ruling out retirement either.
Tua is just hoping that wherever he lands, he never has to play in temps below the freezing mark again
Haha
Gotta love their former GM
Grier didn’t give Tua all that money without McDaniel being convinced his one good year wasn’t a fluke. They spent Old Man Ross’ money poorly….. Maybe they can Tua and money to the Cardinals for Kyler Murray??? He appears to have worn out his welcome there……
If he is traded and Miami retains salary, will they have a retained amount and a dead amount on next year’s books? Why is there a dead salary amount? Essentially punishing the team for giving up on the contract early?
Ehhh Tua did his part in earning this, but he was far from Miami’s only player who fell short against Pittsburgh. He’s an easy scapegoat as the quarterback, but when I watched those passing plays, those receivers were almost always covered or not running good routes. The defense was flimsy-even with the Steelers’ top heavy receiving corps and backs that are about average, Miami still let up a near perfect completion percentage to Rodgers and let him move the ball easily. It was bad defense all day against an above average but not really good Steelers offense.
Demoting Tua is easy, and perhaps even deserved, but it’s definitely unjust to hold him accountable on his own for the Dolphins’ mishaps this year. The rest of the team needs to be held to a higher standard, and McDaniel blaming his quarterback in his presser just takes away some of whatever momentum he bought himself with his win streak in my humble opinion.
As a lifelong Bills fan my response is this:
Extend McDaniel immediately!