Mike McDaniel decided to play with Quinn Ewers and sit Tagovailoa, after a difficult season for the QB
MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — The quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoais open to a “new beginning,” he told reporters on Monday, after being relegated to the bench for the final three games of the season.
The coach of the Dolphins, Mike McDanielsat Tagovailoa in favor of the rookie Quinn Ewers after the team’s defeat against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15, arguing that the player selected in the seventh round gave Miami the best chance to win.
Tua Tagovailoa He spent the remaining three games as an emergency third quarterback, not participating in the game. Following McDaniel’s decision on Dec. 17, Tagovailoa said he was “disappointed” but that the decision was out of his control. He also refused to comment on whether he had played his last game with the Dolphins.
His tone changed during the team’s locker room cleanup Monday, when asked if he would like a fresh start after the events of this season.
“That would be great,” he responded. “That would be fine with me.”
McDaniel said Monday there will be a competition for the quarterback job in 2026 and did not rule out Ewers being a starter next season.
McDaniel declined to speculate on the causes of Tagovailoa’s poor performance this season, but said he will meet with the quarterback Tuesday morning to talk about the season and how they would like to move forward.
“I think a franchise quarterback has a lot of responsibilities, and ultimately I think my job is to constantly try to improve his game,” he said. “I don’t want to throw out a simplistic headline that doesn’t reflect the complexity of playing the quarterback position. What I do know is that, for the first time, I evaluated whether I should be the team’s starting quarterback, and that was as a result of his inability to accomplish certain things.”
“Does that mean that this will be the case forever in terms of his ability to execute plays that he has executed in the past? No, it does not. We will talk about how to regain his best level of play and control of his own performance. He will have a lot on his mind and he will have to work to get back to the level we are all used to seeing him at. I will do everything I can to support him, and the rest we will see.”
Tua Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.1 million contract extension in July 2024, the most lucrative contract in franchise history. But after missing a career-high six games in 2024 due to hip and head injuries, he had a slow season in 2025 before losing his starting job to Ewers.
He threw for 2,660 yards and 20 touchdowns, with a career-high 15 interceptions, and recorded fewer than 200 yards passing eight times this season, after doing so just six times in his previous three seasons under McDaniel.
Letting go of Tagovailoa will be costly for Miami. It represents a cap hit of $56.4 million in 2026, and terminating his contract before June 1 would result in a cap hit of $99.2 million next season. If he is released after June 1, that salary impact would be spread over two seasons, with $67.2 million in 2026.
Los Dolphins They could also try to transfer the leader of the NFL in passing yards in 2023, but they would have to find a team willing to take on his salary.
If you have actually played your last game with the DolphinsTagovailoa will walk away as the fourth-highest yarding quarterback in franchise history, with 18,166 yards and 120 touchdowns. He would also finish his time in Miami as the Dolphins’ all-time leader in completion percentage among eligible quarterbacks, at 68%.
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