The latest report on Tua Tagovailoa and his 2026 future with the Dolphins doesn’t leave much to the imagination
Not a lot of room for misinterpretation on this report about Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins.
The hits just keep coming for Miami Dolphins fans. Miami was eliminated from the postseason on Monday night against the Steelers. They’ll play their first mathematically irrelevant regular-season contest since 2021. The Dolphins then benched highly-paid quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Wednesday. On Saturday, a new report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter touched on a similarly sore subject — the 2020 NFL Draft, and Miami’s efforts to draft their quarterback of choice.
Schefter reported that Miami, which plays the Bengals in Week 16, offered Cincinnati four first-round picks for the right to draft Joe Burrow. The Bengals, obviously, were not interested. And now these two franchises will meet with Burrow sending barbs at his franchise at press conferences and the Dolphins shifting Tagovailoa to the bench. If you’re willing to look past the sore subject of Miami and Burrow, Schefter also had some direct insight on what Miami’s path with Tagovailoa this offseason will (and won’t) look like.
Adam Schefter believes Tua Tagovailoa is not for long in Miami this offseason
“The Dolphins moved on from Tagovailoa this week and are prepared to move on from him this offseason, according to league sources. The only question is how…Miami already owes Tagovailoa $54 million guaranteed in 2026; another $3 million of his 2027 salary becomes guaranteed on March 15, meaning the Dolphins would like to decide the most effective way of separating from the quarterback before that date.” — ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tua’s future (or lack thereof) in Miami
The Dolphins are prepared to move on from Tagovailoa this offseason. There’s not a lot of wiggle room here for what else Schefter could mean. This is, of course, an interesting bit of intel given that Miami is not in possession of a full-time general manager.
But part of the team’s sell to prospective hires will, presumably, be an understanding that they’ll get a quarterback of their choosing and that the team is committed to the long-term work needed to overhaul the roster. That should give potential executives assurance about when they’ll see their vision come to life in Miami.
Tua Tagovailoa’s Miami Dolphins career
- 44-32 record as a starter
- 18,166 career passing yards
- 120 career touchdown passes
- 0-1 in the postseason (missed 2022/2023 Wild Card game in Buffalo)
And Schefter makes it seem as though the Dolphins could move quickly here. Any hope Miami has of trading Tagovailoa would require the team to do one of two things: package a handsome draft pick with the quarterback to ship him elsewhere and prompt a team to take the majority of his salary or, otherwise, buy down the salary.
Doing so would almost certainly require Miami to wait until after June 1 to trade him when they could split the cap charges between 2026 and 2027. There is no such thing as a “Post-June 1 designated trade.”
The date Schefter points to is March 15. That’s less than three months away. And it will be a major date for Miami to declare its intentions with the Tagovailoa saga. Is it willing to play the long game throughout the offseason at the expense of a few extra million dollars in commitments, guaranteeing in 2027? Or will the Dolphins simply take the first exit ramp off this road to nowhere and turn the page?
NFL Draft
2-Round 2026 NFL Mock Draft: The quarterback well dries up fast and impact defenders go early
The Rams, Bengals, Cowboys, Commanders, Dolphins, and Saints all land difference makers on defense early.
