Dolphins Demote Tua Tagovailoa To Third-String QB

By Sam Robinson | at December 17, 2025 2:02 pm

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.

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.