One currently overlooked detail in Tua Tagovailoa’s contract with the Dolphins could make it easier for Miami to walk away after this season
More often than not, how you write NFL contracts is just as important as the dollars they commit to.
It didn’t take long for the Tua Tagovailoa contract extension with the Miami Dolphins to turn into a troublesome decision. By the third quarter of Week 2 last year, Tagovailoa was helped off the field with a concussion after trying to run over Bills safety Damar Hamlin near the goal line.
In the time that has passed since, Tagovailoa has made a triumphant return to the field from injury, helped his team back to .500 by the end of last season, only to miss the final two games of 2024 with a separate hip injury. He’s started every game for Miami in 2025, but that same contract extension is now troublesome for a different reason altogether.
Tagovailoa is not playing well. He is far from the only problem in Miami. And I’m personally of the belief that the defensive personnel, the offensive line injuries, and the coaching culture and execution around him are all much more problematic than he is in the big picture. That wasn’t the case on Sunday against the Browns, but I digress.
But when you’re the franchise quarterback making the big bucks, you’re expected to make it work, fair or not. Tagovailoa has regressed in several ways this season, looking at times like the quarterback that his biggest detractors have insisted he’s been for years. The hardest part of all of this to swallow is that Tagovailoa, in fact, was not that player — until recently. The turnovers have come in bunches, even if the quarterback himself bristles at the suggestion.
Two consecutive three-interception performances and a 1-6 start have a lot of Dolphins fans asking a lot of questions about that four-year extension Tagovailoa signed last summer. There’s one big thing you need to know amid the questions about how Miami could, in theory, move on.
Dolphins’ looming 2026 decision on Tua Tagovailoa has an overlooked detail that could aid exit strategy
Let’s first start with the bad news amid Tagovailoa’s league-worst 10 interceptions this season and a career-low passer rating so far in 2025. He’s fully guaranteed $54 million in compensation in 2026. That cash will not go away unless the Dolphins find a taker to trade for it. And with the product Tagovailoa is putting on the field, it is hard to imagine anyone signing themselves up for that, especially since there are future guarantees that hang in the balance as well.
Tagovailoa also has $3 million of his 2027 salary that fully guarantees on the third day of the league year next March.
The dynamics have had me generally resigned to the idea that Tagovailoa will be a Miami Dolphin in 2026. You don’t often see players get paid to “go away” like Miami would be doing with Tagovailoa, offering a monster $54 million in compensation to a player to not be on the roster.
But the play of the past two weeks in particular, plus in Week 1 against the Colts, is alarming. And if it continues, it should be considered at least, if not the favored outcome. The interest in potentially pivoting off of Tagovailoa’s contract would also be fueled by injury guarantees, too — money that becomes guaranteed to him in the event that Tagovailoa suffers a catastrophic injury on the field and cannot pass a physical. There is $20 million of it in 2027, to be exact.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s 2025 season by the numbers through Week 7
- Tied for league-leading 10 interceptions
- Career-low adjusted net yards per attempt (4.56 yards)
- Career-low passer rating (82.8)
The third day of the league year next year is an important one for the Tagovailoa contract in another big way beyond the date for 2027 compensation guaranteeing. Here’s where the good news comes in. The Dolphins structured $15 million of Tagovailoa’s fully guaranteed compensation in 2026 to come in the form of an option trigger, which Miami could choose to exercise even if it chooses to release him.
That means Miami could split that $15 million by a 20%-80% split between 2026 and 2027 if they were to waive Tagovailoa with a post-June 1 designation in March, which they would need to decide on by the third day of the league year, before that $3 million of 2027 compensation becomes fully guaranteed.
The salary cap resources online do not reflect the $15 million option opportunity Miami has in Tagovailoa’s current contract. An option “bonus” is when a team “opts in” to pay a check up front for cap classification purposes, as compared to declining the bonus and allowing it to revert into base salary, at which point you cannot manipulate the salary cap.
The cash owed doesn’t change whether the team accepts or declines the option. But it does allow you to spread that into future years, just like a signing bonus or restructure bonus would.
Miami could cut $12 million off of their 2026 cap charge and move it into 2027 for Tagovailoa, and move on if they did so with a post-June 1 designation.
What would the exact numbers look like?
With the team exercising the option trigger in Tagovailoa’s contract between the first and third days of the 2026 league year in March and then releasing him with a post-June 1 designation before any 2027 compensation fully guarantees, the Dolphins would carry Tagovailoa’s $56.4 million 2026 cap hit until June 2, at which time it would drop to $55.4 million in dead cap. An additional $43.8 million dead cap charge would await Miami in 2027.
Is that good? No, of course not. But it’s softer than Miami’s alternatives, which would be to cut Tagovailoa outright in March with no June 1 designation and carry a $99.2 million dead cap charge in 2026 or, alternatively, not having an option trigger baked into his contract for the post-June 1 designation scenario.
With no option on the $15 million portion of his 2026 salary, the splits between 2026 and 2027 dead cap would be $67.4 million in dead cap next year and $31.8 million in dead cap in 2027.
Maybe the Dolphins, with whomever is leading this football operation, will opt for the bigger dead cap charge in 2026 anyway and decline the option for the $67.4 million and $31.8 million split if they’re moving on.
But they’d be doing so by choice, as the $15 million option is at their disposal to soften their landing if they choose to jump out the window and break ties with Tagovailoa in 2026. With the direction this is heading, it’s becoming harder to envision that not being the favored scenario come the spring — even if that means paying a player $54 million to go elsewhere. That remains the biggest hurdle to all of this, but more play like yesterday will only help that idea become more attractive.
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