It’s officially over in Miami. The Dolphins announced Monday morning that they’re releasing Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, ending a six-season run that began with so much promise and finished with a complicated feeling and a very large bill.
The move will be designated as a post-June 1 cut, which allows Miami to spread the dead money across two seasons. The total damage? A jaw-dropping, NFL-record $99.2 million in dead cap. For context, the previous record was the $85 million the Broncos swallowed when they cut Russell Wilson. Miami looked at that number and blew right past it.
Why the Dolphins Are Releasing Tagovailoa Now
This wasn’t exactly a surprise. Tagovailoa was benched for the final three games of the 2025 season after throwing a career-high 15 interceptions in just 14 games. His play had been inconsistent for two straight years, and the writing on the wall became pretty hard to ignore somewhere around the fourth pick of the season.
When Miami fired Head Coach Mike McDaniel in January and brought in new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and Head Coach Jeff Hafley, Tagovailoa’s time in South Beach was essentially on borrowed time. New regimes rarely keep the old guy’s quarterback, especially when that quarterback is benched, coming off a rough season, and carrying a contract worth $212.4 million.
Sullivan tried to explore a trade. Nobody bit. Not one team wanted to take on the contract and the injury history, which meant Miami was left with no choice but to cut its losses.
“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,” Sullivan said in a statement Monday. He also expressed genuine gratitude for Tagovailoa’s contributions on and off the field over six seasons.
Tagovailoa’s Complicated Legacy In Miami
Here’s the thing about Tagovailoa: the story is genuinely sad, and it deserves more than a cold business transaction framing. He was drafted fifth overall in 2020 off the back of a brilliant college career at Alabama. He had the talent. He had the arm. He had the accuracy, and in 2023, he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league, throwing for 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns while carrying Miami to the playoffs.
But the concussions never stopped being a story. He suffered four documented concussions during his career, three of them in the NFL. His body simply wouldn’t cooperate long enough to let him string together the kind of sustained run of elite play that Miami was banking on when they handed him that four-year, $212.4 million extension before the 2024 season.
He missed at least one game in five of his six seasons. The injuries piled up. The interceptions piled up. And eventually, so did the doubt. It wasn’t the ending anyone wanted.
What Happens Next For the Dolphins and Tagovailoa
Miami now turns to Quinn Ewers, a seventh-round pick from 2025, as its most experienced returning quarterback. Sullivan has said the team plans to draft a quarterback in this year’s draft and may look at free agency as well, though he doesn’t expect them to be big spenders. Which, given the $99 million dead cap bill heading their way, makes a lot of sense.
As for Tagovailoa, he’s 28 years old and heading into free agency. Sullivan still owes him $54 million fully guaranteed for the 2026 season. That means he’ll essentially play for free for whoever picks him up next, making him a very intriguing low-risk flier for a team in need of a veteran quarterback. He wanted a fresh start. He said as much at the end of last season. Now he’s got one.
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