The Miami Dolphins have had a rough year and there are no two ways about it. They had enough talent on the roster in August that there was plenty of reason for optimism. Sure, it was filled with “ifs,” but every team’s pre-season hopes and aspirations are tied to a raft full of “ifs.”
Now, it seems like the Dolphins have gotten an answer to ‘what if Tua stinks?’
After Tua Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards in 2023 with 4,624, there was plenty of reason for optimism. Enough – apparently – that general manager Chris Grier and the Dolphins organization thought it would be a great idea to reward him with a four-year, $212.4 million extension, which included $167 million in guarantees.
“The way he’s attacked this and wants to be great, and the combination of Mike [McDaniel] and working with that and that trust and belief in each other, we do think there’s still another level,” Grier said in a statement at the time.
Whoops.
Now, Tua looks like a shell of that guy and the team piled up losses this year like it was their jobs. The Dolphins are out of the playoffs, Tua has been benched and they are starting rookie seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers for the rest of the season.
For what it’s worth, a source told ESPN recently that the decision to bench Tua was entirely head coach Mike McDaniel’s with no regard for next year. He just flat out thought he stunk and the team was better off without him and Zach Wilson. He’s probably right.
League observers talk about Tua Tagovailoa
So, what’s been the problem with Tua? Well, obviously the concussion history weighs heavily on him. If you’re playing not to get your brains beaten in (and everyone should), you’re going to alter how you perform. Once decisive and accurate with the ability to move if need be, Tua now looks tentative which leads to mistakes and lack of production. Those aren’t good outcomes.
One veteran NFL scout tells ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Tua “wasn’t as twitchy or explosive as he was a year and a half ago. His feet and quickness were good enough and could help him compensate for [a] lack of elite ability. You don’t see that anymore. He’s gotten comfortable.”
One defensive coach who prepared for Tua this year told Fowler something more basic.
“I saw a quarterback who couldn’t play football after his first read,” he said. “And then he was on the interception train damn near every week.”
As someone who has watched enormous amounts of NFL football for nearly 50 years, I can tell you that’s not good.
And it sounds like McDaniel would agree as he seems to be done with Tua (seemed like he was done with him long before he had to bench him).
“If you still believe in McDaniel, which it seems like [Miami] might, then give him a new quarterback to work with,” one NFC exec said. “He’s still one of the better offensive coaches in the league.”
What do the Miami Dolphins do with Tua Tagovailoa moving forward?
The Dolphins are on the hook for about $54 million with this guy for 2026. They can say that the decision to bench him was all McDaniel, but even if that’s the case, the Dolphins were absolutely on board. If Tua is on the roster at the beginning of the NFL league year next year, then certain guarantees for 2027 automatically kick in. If he’s hurt, they can’t cut or trade him which would all but guarantee some attachment to him in two years.
They don’t want that.
One NFC executive told Fowler that it’s not really clear what they’re going to do with Tua.
“Cutting him doesn’t help them financially,” he said. “I would think that they try to trade him first, but he very well could be on the roster next year.”
What really can they do with him? He’s not very good anymore, he’s got a high-end price tag with bargain basement production and he could be seriously injured at any time.
“They are almost stuck with him,” one AFC exec told Fowler.
One source offers some advice that I wholeheartedly agree with.
“They should follow the Broncos‘ blueprint with Russell Wilson and just rip the Band-Aid off,” the source said. “They seem very obviously done with him.”
As Rose says in “APT,” “Uh huh, uh huh.”
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