SCHEFTER: Dolphins Seeking Trade Partner for Tua

This morning, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Miami Dolphins are looking for a trade partner for Tua Tagovailoa.

Schefter said Miami would like to trade Tua but understands it may not be feasible given the financial hurdles for the acquiring team.

Schefter said, “Miami is expected to be willing to pay down a portion of Tagovailoa’s contract to help facilitate a trade, sources told ESPN, though the money still makes it challenging.”

How much Miami would be willing to “pay down” remains unknown. What is also unknown is whether Miami, on top of paying down the contract, would have to include a draft pick to entice another team to take Tua off their hands?

With three picks in Round 3, would the Dolphins have to part with one of those to make the trade more appetizing for the team acquiring Tua and his contract?

That is something I am sure will be discussed by any teams interested in taking on Tua in the coming weeks and months.

For weeks, I have said on the DolphinsTalk Podcast that there is a 0% chance of Tua being on the Dolphins’ roster in 2026.

Everyone responsible for bringing Tua to Miami is gone, and the head coach who maximized Tua the most was just fired as well.

Not to mention, Tua’s underwhelming play is directly responsible for the firing of the last two head coaches in Miami.

If I were in Jon-Eric Sullivan’s shoes, I still think the best approach is to release Tua and eat the contract. Whether that is with a post-June 1st designation or taking the entire $99 million cap hit this year.

I don’t think paying down the contract and most likely parting with a draft pick in rounds 3 or 4 to trade Tua is the way I would go. Even if you could convince a team to take a pick in the later rounds, or no pick at all, I don’t see much to be gained from a trade.

For this depleted Dolphins roster, every draft pick has significant value, so I would be against giving up a pick to help a team trade for Tua.

And if you have to pay down the contract to move him, why not just cut him and be done with him?

I don’t see any advantage to trading him in the big picture.

Either way, Tua’s time in Miami has come to an end, and this Super Bowl Sunday report from Adam Schefter all but confirms that.

The start of the new league year is Thursday, March 11th, at 4 pm Eastern time. We should have an answer to this by then, as Miami will have to have its salary cap situation in order by that day and time.