Tua Tagovailoa’s time in Miami appears to be coming to an end. The Dolphins are reportedly benching the former Alabama star and giving ex-Texas standout Quinn Ewers the start on Sunday.
A former 1st-round pick in 2020, Tagovailoa is in his sixth professional season. Ewers is in his rookie year and was a 7th-round pick in this year’s draft.
This season, Miami is 6-7 in Tagovailoa’s 13 starts. Tagovailoa’s numbers are down from last season, with his passer rating at a career low of 86.4.The QB is completing 66.9% of his passes, down from 72.9% in 2024 and 69.3% in 2023. His yards per attempt have dipped to 6.8, after being 8.9 (2022), 8.3 (2023) and 7.2 (2024). Through 13 games, Tagovailoa has thrown 18 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He last threw 14 INTs in 2023 through 17 games when he also threw 29 TDs.
If Miami is moving on from Tagovailoa, it comes with a major financial impact. Coming off a career year in 2023 in which he led the league with 4,624 passing yards, Tagovailoa signed a massive 4-year extension.
The numbers game:
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 17, 2025
Tua Tagovailoa already has $54 million guaranteed to him in 2026.
On March 15, $3M of his 2027 salary becomes guaranteed.
Cutting him would leave $99M in dead money.
Post June 1 cut would equal $67.4M in dead money in 2026, $31.8M in 2027. https://t.co/DowBg5XZCR
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
