Dolphins will release QB Tua Tagovailoa at start of league year
The Miami Dolphins are officially in the market for a new quarterback.
Tua Tagovailoa will be released at the start of the new league year Wednesday, the club announced Monday.
“I recently informed Tua and his representation that we are going to move in a new direction at the quarterback position and will be releasing him after the start of the new league year,” general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said in a statement.
“As I shared with Tua, I have great respect for the person and player he is. On behalf of the Miami Dolphins, I expressed our gratitude for his many contributions, both on the field and in the community, during his six seasons in Miami.”
Tagovailoa, 28, had been the Dolphins’ primary quarterback since being drafted at No. 5 overall in 2020. He started 76 regular season games over his six seasons in Miami, throwing for 18,166 yards, 120 touchdowns and 59 interceptions with a 44-32 record.
Despite the positive counting numbers, the Dolphins were never able to succeed in the big moments with Tagovailoa at quarterback. He started just one playoff game, a blowout wild card loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in January 2024, and missed the team’s playoff game one year earlier due to injury (Skylar Thompson started against the Buffalo Bills).
With Tagovailoa still under contract for three more years, the Dolphins will be hindered financially by releasing him early. The club will be on the hook for Tagovailoa’s fully guaranteed $54 million salary in 2026, taking on a $99 million dead cap charge.
The Dolphins have undergone major staff and roster changes this offseason. Sullivan was hired as GM in January after Chris Grier was fired. He then brought in Jeff Hafley as head coach, replacing Mike McDaniel. Sullivan and Hafley both previously worked for the Green Bay Packers.
On the roster side, the Dolphins have cut significant salary in an effort to get under the salary cap for the new league year. Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, Alec Ingold, Jason Sanders, James Daniels and Liam Eichenberg are among the players who have already been released.
As of Tagovailoa’s release, Over The Cap projects the Dolphins at $3.26 million in cap space. That doesn’t give the team much wiggle room to sign a new quarterback when the legal tampering period opens Monday at noon ET.
Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller, both rookies last season, are the only quarterbacks on Miami’s roster entering free agency. Malik Willis, formerly with Sullivan and Hafley on the Packers last season, is the top free agent quarterback on the market. The Dolphins also hold the No. 11 pick in April’s draft, but at this point there aren’t any quarterbacks projected to go that high, aside from Fernando Mendoza at No. 1.
“As we move forward, we will be focused on infusing competition across the roster and establishing a strong foundation for this team as we work towards building a sustained winner,” Sullivan said.
