Tua Tagovailoa Rumors Reveal Dolphins' Plan for QB, How Move Would Affect Salary Cap

The Miami Dolphins are preparing to part ways with Tua Tagovailoa this offseason after benching the quarterback ahead of Week 16, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Schefter reported Saturday the Dolphins "moved on from Tagovailoa this week and are prepared to move on from him this offseason, according to league sources."

The Dolphins have limited options regarding moving Tagovailoa due to the $54 million in guaranteed salary he is owed next season, per Spotrac. He also has $3 million in guarantees for 2027 set to kick in on March 15.

Cutting Tagovailoa ahead of June 1 would leave the Dolphins with a dead cap hit of more than $99.2 million next season, per Over the Cap.

Trading him before that date would drop that dead cap hit to about $45 million, per Over the Cap, although there is a possibility the Dolphins might have to eat some of Tagovailoa's remaining contract in order to make him an attractive trade target.

The Dolphins could alternatively cut Tagovailoa after June 1, which would allow the team to spread out the dead money hits into about $67 million in 2026 and another $32 million in 2027, per Over the Cap.

Any of those options require further restricting a Dolphins salary cap already bogged down by the dead money lingering from the franchise's contracts with since-departed players like Xavien Howard, Jalen Ramsey and Jaelan Phillips.

Even with Tagovailoa still on the roster, the Dolphins currently rank fourth in the NFL with $35.5 million in dead money on the books for 2026, per Over the Cap.

Should the Dolphins ultimately take on dead money in order to part ways with Tagovailoa, Schefter noted that the franchise could consider releasing wide receiver Tyreek Hill in order to carve out more room under the cap. A post-June 1 cut of Hill would net the Dolphins about $20 million in additional cap space, per Over the Cap.

Miami could alternatively figure out a way for another team to agree to take on some of Tagovailoa's remaining salary.

According to Schefter, some people around the NFL "have wondered if the Dolphins could pay down a heavy portion of Tagovailoa's deal, and offer draft pick compensation, for another team to take on the remaining balance of the contract."

Schefter pointed to the Houston Texans' trade of quarterback Brock Osweiler ahead of the 2017 season as an example of this kind of deal. The Texans gave up a second-round and sixth-round pick in the trade, while receiving a fourth-rounder and getting the Browns to take on the $16 million in guaranteed money remaining on Osweiler's contract, per Schefter.

How the Dolphins ultimately decide to handle the remainder of Tagovailoa's contract could depend on who the franchise hires to replace former general manager Chris Grier.

Schefter wrote Saturday the Dolphins "are getting ready to embark upon a search for a new general manager," and that the next candidate for the job "is expected to have his own ideas" about Miami's future quarterback.

There is a possibility that future could include rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers. According to Schefter, "the Dolphins are intrigued with Ewers and need to see if he can be part of their quarterback solution next season."

Ewers will begin his audition for a place on the Dolphins' quarterback depth chart next season when he starts in place of Tagovailoa during Sunday's Week 16 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.