The Miami Dolphins have released several players recently, and many are wondering whether quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is next.
The Dolphins traded edge rusher Jaelan Phillips last season to the Philadelphia Eagles and released fellow edge rusher Bradley Chubb and receiver Tyreek Hill on Monday.
Tagovailoa, though, is due much more money than those three players, and a trade may be hard to come by.
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The Dolphins also released offensive lineman James Daniels and receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine on Monday. The combination of the four players saved $66.98 million and more than $56 million in 2026 cap space. Now, the question is what will happen with Tagovailoa?
ESPN’s NFL insider Dan Graziano joined “NFL Live” to give the latest on whether the Dolphins are still looking to cut the quarterback.
“It’s possible, but it’s not as urgent for them to do it soon because Tua Tagovailoa’s $54 million salary for this coming year is already fully guaranteed,” Graziano said. “So if they cut him, they’ll have to pay that regardless. It’s not like (there’s a) date at which it activates like with Tyreek Hill.”
Unlike the other players the Dolphins recently released, there’s not much money to be saved by releasing Tagovailoa because of the extensive guaranteed money in his contract.
Graziano added that on the third day of the league year, which is in mid-March, another $3 million becomes guaranteed for Tagovailoa, but that likely won’t mean much beyond the $54 million already guaranteed.
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Miami’s best bet remains to find a trade partner for Tagovailoa, but that may be difficult.
“The Dolphins would like to be able to trade Tua Tagovailoa and get someone to help them defray the cost,” Graziano said. “Trading him would incur $45 million in dead money instead of the $99 million it would cost them in dead money to release him.”
“So, they’ll continue to explore those options. They may have to pick up a significant chunk of the salary to make a trade work. (It’s) unclear whether they’d be willing to do that and to what extent.”
Graziano added that this could drag on for a little while.
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Tagovailoa has likely seen his last days as the Dolphins’ starting quarterback, but whether he’ll be released or traded remains up in the air.
One thing is for sure: new head coach Jeff Hafley and his staff are starting a complete roster reconstruction and rebuild in Miami.
