Is the Tua era finally over in Miami?
Tua Tagovailoa is the NFL’s sixth highest-paid player this year. To say that the Miami Dolphins made a mistake in giving him such a big contract would be a massive understatement.
The Dolphins benched Tagovailoa on Wednesday ahead of their Week 16 game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Rookie QB Quinn Ewers will instead get the start for Miami. Ewers was a legendary high school recruit and a Heisman contender with the Texas Longhorns at one point, but he was also only a 7th round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. For Tagovailoa, getting benched for a 7th round rookie is a disaster.
Tua has struggled this season without injured receiver Tyreek Hill as the Dolphins have gotten out to a 6-8 start. He has 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions on the year, but his performance has been even worse than those numbers indicate. If the Dolphins cut him over the offseason, they are going to have a comical amount of dead money on the books. His $54 million salary is already guaranteed for next year, and cutting him triggers an even bigger cap hit.
Read our Matt Warren on the devastating mechanics the Dolphins would face if they release Tua in the upcoming spring or summer.
We’ll update this story as it develops.
Category: General Sports
