Jaguars To Acquire QB Quinn Ewers From Dolphins

The Jaguars are trading for Ewers, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo. The Jags are sending the Dolphins a 2028 sixth-rounder for Ewers, ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds. This removes the Dolphins’ ties to their 2025 quarterback depth chart, with Tagovailoa being the most expensive cut in NFL history and Zach Wilson signing with the Saints.

Technically, Miami added Cam Miller off Las Vegas’ practice squad before Week 18 last season. Miller remains on the Dolphins’ roster, but the Tagovailoa-Ewers-Wilson trio splintered quickly. The Jaguars will add a backup that has three years remaining on his rookie contract. Ewers joins a quarterback room headlined by Trevor Lawrence and featuring Nick Mullens behind him. Carter Bradley and rookie UDFA Joey Aguilar are also on Jacksonville’s roster, but this trade will change Jacksonville’s plans at the game’s premier position.

Mullens is entering the second season of a two-year, $4.5MM deal. The Jags brought in the nomadic vet early in the James Gladstone-Liam Coen era, with Mullens following OC Grant Udinski from Minnesota to Jacksonville. If the Jags cut Mullens, they would save $1.2MM but be tagged with $1.3MM in dead money.

In his most recent Jaguars roster prediction, ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco had the team carrying two QBs — Lawrence and Mullens — while passing Bradley through to the practice squad (Bradley is the son of former Jags HC Gus Bradley). Ewers’ arrival will change that prospective plan. While the Jags carrying three QBs on their 53-man roster would make sense, it is worth wondering if Ewers will replace Mullens soon.

The Florida teams’ Ewers swap marks the third trade agreement today. The Ravens are sending defensive lineman CJ Okoye to the Giants, while the Cardinals dealt running back Corey Kiner to the Patriots. Ewers is a higher-profile name than both, holding off Arch Manning as Texas’ starting QB and guiding the Longhorns to the CFP title game in 2024. While Shedeur Sanders‘ draft freefall overshadowed Ewers, the multiyear Longhorns starter was not expected to drop to Round 7.

Ewers, 23, began last season as the Dolphins’ third-stringer but overtook Wilson in-season. When Mike McDaniel benched Tagovailoa, he chose Ewers to close the season. The GM that drafted Ewers (Chris Grier) was fired last October, injecting some uncertainty into the Dolphins’ plans behind new starter Malik Willis. Miami rosters Miller — a 2025 Raiders sixth-round pick and rookie UDFA Mark Gronowski. Marcel Louis-Jacques’ Dolphins roster prediction for ESPN.com had only Willis and Ewers making the team, but he noted the gap between Ewers and Miller was closer than the chasm between Willis and Ewers.

Ewers completed 66.3% of his passes last season, averaging a respectable 7.5 yards per pass. The ex-Ohio State recruit posted a 3:3 TD-INT ratio. While the Bengals trounced the Dolphins in Ewers’ starter debut, he led the team to a win over the fading Buccaneers in Week 17. The Patriots routed the Dolphins in Week 18, sealing the AFC’s No. 2 seed.

The Jags also inquired about Saints backup Spencer Rattler, according to NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill. Wilson arriving in New Orleans crowds the Saints’ depth chart — well, as much as the 2026 Wilson version can — and Rattler came up in trade rumors during the spring. The Saints are holding onto their 2025 Week 1 starter, but the team did not hold a QB competition this year. Tyler Shough is the unquestioned starter, leaving Rattler — who has two years left on his rookie deal — in limbo.

The Rattler information certainly points to the Jags eyeing a QB2 upgrade on Mullens. The latter would be able to sign immediately with a practice squad or another team as a vested veteran. Jacksonville has seen Lawrence avoid injuries for most of his career, but the 2023 and ’24 seasons brought multiple issues.

Lawrence’s perfect attendance streak ended in December 2023, and he missed seven games to close out the 2024 season. Jacksonville let Mac Jones walk (to San Francisco) in free agency last year, and Mullens did not start a game last season. The former 49ers UDFA, now 31, has started just three games over the past four seasons. For his career, however, the Southern Miss product is 5-15 in 20 starts.