Dolphins $212.4 million blunder just spent his final game in Miami on the bench

It’s been quite the fall from grace for Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Just two years ago, he was the NFL’s leading passer and guided the Dolphins to an 11-6 record. The 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that postseason stung, but Miami looked to be on its way to building a contender with Tagovailoa at the helm.

Dolphins fans know how that turned out. Two disappointing seasons later, and Tua is not even the team’s starter, having been benched for seventh-round rookie QB Quinn Ewers.

With the Dolphins’ 2025 season officially over after a 38-10 loss to the New England Patriots, all signs point to this being Tagovailoa’s last in Miami. Despite his $212.4 million contract, it feels inevitable that he will be playing for a new team in 2026.

Tua Tagovailoa may have played his last season for the Miami Dolphins

Now that the offseason is officially underway, expect much of the conversation surrounding Miami to be about how they choose to deal with Tua’s contract. They have multiple avenues to go down that you can check out in depth here, but none are pretty to look at.

Even though it will be hard to stomach, I don’t see any way Tagovailoa plays another snap in Miami. Even if the Dolphins choose to move on from Mike McDaniel, I highly doubt that whoever replaces him would want to give him another shot to be the starting QB.

Ewers did struggle against New England in his last audition to be the starter in 2026, but he still showed more flashes in his three starts than Tua did for most of this season. If it’s not Ewers, another veteran or perhaps a mid-round draft pick would be more likely to be the answer for next season.

The hope is that some desperate team that fails to secure a QB in free agency or the 2026 NFL draft could be willing to trade for him, but Miami would have to either pay part of his contract or give up a draft pick to make that happen. By then, the cap savings wouldn’t be as useful, so a decision could come rather early in the offseason.

If by some miracle he does stick around on the roster for 2026, don’t expect to see him on the field at all unless it’s absolutely needed. The Tua era is officially over.