New Dolphins GM Says They’re ‘Getting Close’ To Decision On Tua Tagovailoa’s Future

New Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan was asked about the future of QB Tua Tagovailoa and his status with the team moving forward. 

Sullivan made it clear that they will be looking for more help at the position and they’re getting closer to a decision on Tagovailoa’s future in Miami. 

“Of course, we’ll be looking at other quarterbacks in this draft,” Sullivan said, via Pro Football Talk. “And every draft hereafter. But, look, I’ve had — Tua was in my office the other day, if I’m being perfectly frank. We had a great conversation. Tua has been a very good player in this league. He’s done a lot of really good things for the Miami Dolphins. You guys should be proud to have him and having had him.

“I don’t know what the future holds right now, and I told Tua that. We’re working through some things. What I can tell you is that we’re gonna infuse competition into that room, whether Tua is part of the room, whether he’s not part of the room. We’re gonna infuse competition into that room, like we will do in every other position. Tua knows where we are. We’ve been very honest and upfront, and Tua also knows that he will be the first to know when we make a decision. So if Tua is the first to know, you guys can’t be the first to know, and I know that you respect and appreciate that.

“But we’re getting close to a decision. And when we do, we’ll let Tua know whether he’s gonna be part of this or not, and we’ll move forward. But you can rest assured that we will add competition to that room, one way or the other, to make it the best that we can.”

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.

The Dolphins would reportedly be willing to pay down a portion of his salary to facilitate a trade this offseason, but it remains to be seen how appealing this would be for teams around the league. 

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.