BREAKING: Dolphins Starting QB Quinn Ewers This Week, Benching Tua Tagovailoa

According to Ian Rapoport, the Dolphins are indeed benching QB Tua Tagovailoa and are going with seventh-round QB Quinn Ewers as the starter this week. 

Ewers has impressed the team behind the scenes and earned the backup job ahead of Zach Wilson at one point earlier this year, although Miami quickly pivoted back to the veteran. 

Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel broached the idea of benching Tagovailoa yesterday and has now followed through on the move, sitting the quarterback he was hired to fix. It has major implications for him, Tagovailoa and the team going into 2026. 

The Dolphins had won four straight entering this week, which had cooled a lot of the hot seat speculation about McDaniel. Previous reports have indicated the future of Tagovailoa is heavily linked to McDaniel, so it’s notable if the veteran quarterback is starting to lose the faith of his head coach.  

Tagovailoa is due $54 million in fully guaranteed salary next year, plus another $3 million of his 2027 salary will become guaranteed in mid-March, putting the Dolphins on the hook for $57 million if Tagovailoa is on the team in 2026. 

However, releasing him would trigger an NFL-record $99.2 million in dead money, so the Dolphins have some financial incentives to make things work with Tagovailoa. 

Ewers, 22, began his collegiate career as a top high school recruit at Ohio State before transferring to Texas in 2022. He earned second-team All-SEC honors in 2024 and honorable mention All-Big 12 in 2023. 

He’s projected to sign a four-year, $4,331,576 rookie contract that includes a $131,576 signing bonus and will carry a cap figure of $872,894 in 2025. 

For his college career, Ewers appeared in 37 games and completed 64.9 percent of his passes for 9,128 yards, 68 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions. He also rushed for eight touchdowns.

In 2025, Ewers has appeared in one game for the Dolphins and completed five of eight pass attempts for 53 yards.