There’s one thing we can all agree upon. The Miami Dolphins‘ current play at quarterback isn’t meeting the price of admission. Starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has regressed in a number of ways this season, setting the stage for some awkward conversations as Miami tries to continue to push their way back towards a winning record this season. More accurately, the talks about the future behind center in South Florida don’t offer a lot of enthusiasm despite a commitment in 2026.

Tagovailoa is owed a handsome sum of guaranteed salary in 2026. $54 million to be exact. If the team deems that paying him and keeping him on the roster is in their best interests, they’ll likely be simultaneously greasing the wheels for some new blood in the room. Who are some of their most cost-effective, high-upside options? Here are six quarterbacks who could warrant consideration if bringing back Tagovailoa for 2026.

Six cost-effective options to add to a Tua Tagovailoa-led quarterback room in 2026 for the Dolphins

Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers

Mac Jones has been the success story revival of 2025. Every year one of the coaches off the Shanahan tree successfully brings a quarterback back from the brink and Jones is no exception. The 49ers wisely inked Jones to a two-year, $8.41 million contract this offseason, meaning any team interested in Jones’ services is going to have to trade for him.

But Jones is owed just $4.66 million in 2026, which is nearly $1.5 million less than Zach Wilson was paid by Miami this past offseason in free agency. And Jones has proof of concept of working in a parallel system, whereas Wilson was brought in off potential. The acquisition of someone like Jones would not put Miami’s cash schedule with Tagovailoa past critical mass and would leave plenty of resources for the rest of the roster and player extensions. But it would cost a draft pick. What kind of draft selection would it take? The 49ers are probably well positioned to pull a top-100 pick out of someone for him. Miami, it just so happens, currently has three third round picks.

Trey Lance, Los Angeles Chargers

Lance would be a bold maneuver for Miami, not all that dissimilar to the move they made with Zach Wilson this past offseason. Lance signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Chargers after spending time in San Francisco and Dallas. Would he actually be a viable starter after flaming out in San Francisco? It’s hard to say, but Lance is still just 25-years old and will be entering into his sixth season in 2026.

He wouldn’t cost a draft pick but that comes at the expense of not a lot of confidence that he can serve as legitimate competition for Tagovailoa and/or execute the offense at a reasonable level.

Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints

Consider this an intriguing option. Rattler was a holdover in New Orleans for first-year head coach Kellen Moore in 2025 and started the first eight games of the season. The Saints lost all but one of them but Rattler, with a new coaching staff in place, saw his completion percentage jump 10%, his success rate jump nearly 10% as well, and his passer rating climbed from a 70.4 to 86.8 from his rookie season to this year.

Rattler also comes with two years of player control on a rookie contract, and New Orleans appears to be in a position to either: roll with 2025 second-round draft choice Tyler Shough or be in a position in the draft to draft a quarterback for themselves. Rattler is owed just over $2.2 million in compensation in 2026 and 2027 — combined. He’s the perfect financial hedge to Tagovailoa given the multi-year contract at low cash. But he’s, obviously, not as proven as Mac Jones and currently has less than 500 career NFL pass attempts.

Davis Mills, Houston Texans

Credit to Mills, who started three games for Houston last month and went 3-0 in them. Granted, it’s easier to win games when your defense is the caliber of the one we’re seeing take the field in Houston. Mills started 26 games for the Texans in 2021 and 2022 as a third-round pick out of Stanford in the 2021 NFL Draft. He’s been riding the pine ever since — until last month.

Stroud is back in the fold in Houston and Mills is a well-compensated backup who is under contract with the Texans in 2026. But with Stroud entering into the window of eligibility of a contract extension of his own, the Texans may be more keep to lopping off the $6.3 million in cash he’s owed next season and push those finances towards Stroud while getting cheaper at backup. They may not have another “sell high” opportunity with Mills, who is 27 years old and coming off three sturdy but unspectacular starts. His experience is his best asset but he should be considered a high floor, low ceiling option. How will Miami value that when considering a potential draft selection required to acquire him?

Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders

The Dolphins just got an up close look at Mariota this past month, as he nearly willed the Commanders to a win over Miami in Madrid. The book on Mariota is well-written. He’s an athletic game-manager type who has 80 career starts in the NFL. He’s also playing this season in Washington on a one-year, $8 million contract — meaning he’s the most expensive name on this list. He’d be a great short-term hedge without a long-term payoff. But given the ongoing inflation of the cap and his reasonable play in the nation’s capital, it would not be hard to see him commanding $10 million on a new deal, especially if there’s an intention to let him compete to start.

Daniel Jones signed in Indianapolis on a one-year, $14 million contract. Mariota is older. But he’s been more stable than Jones was in New York. This feels like a great personnel fit that may be out of Miami’s spending budget on the open market as they slash costs to gear up for their next build.

Rookie Draft Choice

Here’s the thing Miami must confront. Is the upside and extended length of control for any of the rookies they’ll have a chance at in the 2026 NFL Draft more attractive than hedging Tagovailoa with someone who has proven NFL reps? Quarterbacks who appear to have some parallels to what Miami runs now would include LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, whose stock is down after playing with an oblique injury all season and missing the final month of the season. Oregon’s Dante Moore would be a dream come true but he’s presumed to be headed back to college and likely wouldn’t reach Miami’s pick range as Miami keeps winning midseason football games. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is a cerebral, RPO heavy passer that could be an inspired fit in Miami too — but he’s projected as the top passer in the draft. Miami won’t sniff that without making some blockbuster moves.

If Miami wanted to go a different direction, high-tools quarterbacks like Penn State’s Drew Allar or Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby could potentially be had in the middle rounds. The question for Miami is if they can fall in love with any of these quarterbacks to take real inspiration from the idea of investing in them. If the answer is no, don’t use the draft pick on one and instead go through free agency or use a comparable draft pick to swing bigger on a quarterback with NFL reps.

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