The day after Miami’s 28-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night dropped the Dolphins to 2-7 in the 2025 season, the NFL team parted ways with general manager Chris Grier.
That departure immediately put the next two men at the top of Miami’s failure/success formula on the speculative chopping block – coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins could have a new coach any time it suits team owner Stephen Ross. But as long as Tagovailoa is healthy, the former Alabama All-American is likely to remain Miami’s quarterback through the 2026 season. You could say it’s in his contract.
After leading the NFL with 4,624 passing yards in 2023, Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension in 2024.
That contract guarantees Tagovailoa will be paid $54 million for the 2026 season even if Miami released the quarterback after this season.
And if that sounds like a lot of money to pay a player who isn’t on the team, releasing Tagovailoa after this season would be even more punitive for Miami. The NFL bookkeeping rules would put a charge of $99.2 million for the missing player on the Dolphins’ 2026 salary cap. That would consume about one-third of Miami’s money for the season.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Why would the Dolphins want to move on from Tagovailoa? He led the NFL in touchdown percentage, yards per pass and passing-efficiency rating in 2022, topped the league in passing yards in 2023 and had the NFL’s best completion percentage in 2024. Over the past three seasons, Tagovailoa posted a passing-efficiency rating better than 101 annually, and only four quarterbacks in NFL history have had longer streaks – Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Steve Young and Russell Wilson.
During the past three seasons, Miami compiled a 25-16 regular-season record with Tagovailoa in the lineup and a 3-7 record without him.
But this season, in addition to the Dolphins’ poor record, Tagovailoa has produced widely inconsistent results. He has four games in which his passer rating exceeded 114 and three in which it failed to reach 71.
In his four top games this season, Tagovailoa has completed 90-of-119 passes for 953 yards with 11 touchdowns and one interception. Those games include Miami’s victories over the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets, a three-point loss to the Carolina Panthers and a six-point loss to the New England Patriots.
In the other five games in 2025, Tagovailoa has completed 94-of-152 passes for 826 yards with four touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
McDaniel said he has given no thought to using backups Zach Wilson or Quinn Ewers as the Dolphins’ starting quarterback.
“I’m far from even going down that direction of would’ve, could’ve possible things,” McDaniel said on Monday. “We have a football game against the Buffalo Bills that we are certain that Tua gives us the best chance to win, and we have to approach our jobs with diligence and we have to execute. And Tua knows that heavy is the crown of being a franchise quarterback. With the anointment of being a franchise quarterback comes the consequences of having to be on top of your game, and we’re all under the same scrutiny and have the same starting point of, all right, you are on the field to give us the best chance to win. When he doesn’t give us the best chance to win, then you adjust.
“But speculation as far as, all right, if this player doesn’t do his job down the road will he still have his — I think it’s pretty simple, we play the players that give us the best chance to win, and when that changes, or if that changes, or if somebody else gives us a better shot, then we adjust there.
“But I still absolutely don’t forget all of the learning lessons and the growth that Tua has had over his career, and I’m counting on him to have the similar response from this last game. But as far as conjectures go down the road for a headline, I don’t see that how that necessarily helps the Miami Dolphins play the Buffalo Bills.”
In Miami’s loss to the Ravens on Thursday night, the Dolphins finished with only 6 fewer yards than Baltimore. But on four possessions that penetrated the Ravens 25-yard line, Miami had one field goal to show for them.
The Dolphins play Buffalo at noon CST Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Miami has lost seven in a row to Buffalo, with its most recent victory coming on Sept. 25, 2022, when the Dolphins beat the Bills 21-19.
In Week 3’s Thursday night game, Buffalo defeated Miami 31-21 on Sept. 18. The Dolphins trailed 28-21 in that game when Tagovailoa was intercepted by linebacker Terrel Bernard on a first-down throw from the Bills 31-yard line with three minutes to play.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
