Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa addresses 'external noise' about future, Mike McDaniel's job security

The uncertain futures of Tua Tagovailoa and head coach Mike McDaniel loomed over the Miami Dolphins long before the team "mutually" agreed to part ways with general manager Chris Grier on Oct. 31.

The details of the four-year, $212.4M deal that Miami gave Tagovailoa in the summer of 2024 could make it difficult for the team to release him during the offseason. While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Tagovailoa was asked if he and others in the locker room were considering playing to save McDaniel's job when Miami surprisingly won 30-13 over the Buffalo Bills (6-3) on Sunday. 

Tua Tagovailoa urges Dolphins to "stick together" amid rough season

"I know there’s a lot of talk outside about certain individuals, certain people," Tagovailoa responded, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "But I think more so with last week’s game, I think it shows the togetherness of our team. And I don’t think it’s anyone playing for themselves. More so, it really is everyone playing for each other..." 

Tagovailoa later encouraged Dolphins players to "just continue to stick together" and "play together." He also mentioned he doesn't "think anyone’s worried about any of that external noise when it comes to that."

A recent story indicated that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross "wants to wait until after the 2026 season before deciding whether a full franchise reset — new coach, new GM, new quarterback — is the way to go." That said, it's unclear how Ross might react if the Dolphins are seen as a complete laughingstock by the time Week 18 concludes. 

As for Tagovailoa, StatMuse shows he committed a league-high 14 turnovers over the first 10 weeks of the season. According to Pro Football Reference, he heads into Week 11 ranked 23rd in the NFL among qualified players with a 45.1 adjusted QBR and 23rd with an 87.6 passer rating for the campaign. 

Tua Tagovailoa, other Dolphins players understand the nature of the NFL

"When we play this game, we know what we sign up for. And we know this is a business as well," Tagovailoa continued during his comments. "We want to play for each other. We’re going to do everything we can — we don’t prepare to go out there and think, 'Hey, we want to do bad. We want to lose this game.' No, we go out there with our hearts, with our minds for war — like that’s what it is, essentially. So, yeah."

As of Wednesday morning, ESPN BET had the 3-7 Dolphins as 2.5-point favorites for this Sunday's game against the Washington Commanders (3-7), which will be held in Madrid, Spain. Washington will be without injured starting quarterback Jayden Daniels.