New Tua Tagovailoa Rumors as Dolphins Star's 'Name Has Rarely Come Up' from QB-Needy Teams

The Miami Dolphins made it clear that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is available for a trade this offseason, but it doesn't sound like any other teams are interested in acquiring him.

According to The Athletic's Jeff Howe, "QB-needy teams are wading through an imperfect veteran and rookie market, and Tagovailoa's name has rarely come up among the pool of available players."

Without a viable trade partner available, the Dolphins could be forced to release Tagovailoa. As Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer explained, the 28-year-old "won't be a Dolphin much longer, so the question is how Miami goes about offloading him." March 13 appears to be a soft deadline for the team to part ways with him, as $3 million of his $31 million base salary for 2027 vests as fully guaranteed on that date.

The prospect of releasing Tagovailoa is also unappealing for the Dolphins, as they'd still be on the hook for his guaranteed $54 million salary for the 2026 season and have to pay the difference remaining from the deal that he signs with another team. Breer noted that his next deal "almost certainly" will be for the veteran's minimum of $1.2 million.

If Miami is still hoping to ship the 2020 No. 5 pick away, Breer explained that the Dolphins "are going to need Tagovailoa's cooperation if they are going to trade him because Miami eating a portion of his salary will require restructuring the contract, which the quarterback would, of course, have to approve."

All signs point to Tagovailoa's time in South Beach coming to an end soon, but it remains to be seen if the Dolphins will get their wish of trading him rather than releasing him without getting anything in return.