The Miami Dolphins announced Monday that they’re releasing QB Tua Tagovailoa at the start of the league year, as expected.
We have informed QB Tua Tagovailoa that he will be released after the start of the new league year. pic.twitter.com/vc0chU6gYk
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) March 9, 2026
Adam Schefter reports that Miami will designate Tagovailoa as a post-June 1 designation.
Tagovailoa had a $54 million fully-guaranteed salary. The June 1 designation will split what will be an NFL-record $99.1 million dead cap hit either $67.4 million/$31.8 million or $55.4 million/$43.8 million.
Once he’s officially released in the next few days, he’ll be free to sign on with another team for the veteran minimum salary.
Tagovailoa, 27, was selected with the No. 5 overall pick out of Alabama in 2020 by the Dolphins. He signed a four-year, $30,275,438 rookie contract with a $19,578,501 signing bonus. He earned a base salary of $1,010,000 in the final year of his deal.
The Dolphins picked up Tagovailoa’s fifth-year option worth $23,171,000 for the 2024 season.
From there, the team re-signed him to a four-year deal worth up to $212 million that included $167 million guaranteed.
In 2025, Tagovailoa appeared in 14 games for the Dolphins and completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.
We’ll have more on Tagovailoa as the news is available.
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