Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa expressed his desire for a fresh start after being benched to end the season, and many believe he’s played his last snap for Miami.
Per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins have considered keeping the former first-round pick, though it’s not thought to be the most likely scenario as of now. Jackson says their preference would be to trade him if they are to move on.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport talked to Jim Rome about the situation and kept the tone the same, saying it would be surprising to see Tagovailoa remain with the Dolphins. He believes a trade is possible to avoid a record-breaking dead cap charge, but Miami will still likely have to eat most of the money.
“I would be surprised if Tua was in Miami… I think they can trade him but they’ll have to eat a lot of the contract,” Rapoport said.
Tagovailoa is owed a staggering $54 million guaranteed in 2026, and the Dolphins will not have an easy time moving on with that kind of guarantee remaining in his contract. Releasing Tagovailoa would result in a $99 million dead money salary cap charge, which would be the largest in NFL history.
Should Miami trade him before June 1st, there would be a $45.2 million dead cap hit in 2026 but no charge in 2027. If he’s traded after June 1st, the Dolphins would incur a dead cap hit of $13.4 million in 2026 and $31.8 million in 2027.
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 has 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 the Dolphins and Tagovailoa as the news is available.
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