Could the Dolphins part ways with Tua Tagovailoa after 2025 season?

Throughout the offseason, whispers have suggested that there’s a world where the Miami Dolphins could part ways with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as soon as next offseason even though the club signed him to a four-year, $212.4M deal last summer.

For an article published on Thursday, Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated expanded on why Tagovailoa could become available to other teams before the next league year gets underway in March 2026.

"At the beginning of the 2026 league year, moving on from Tagovailoa would cost the Dolphins nearly $100M in cap space, breaking a previous NFL record for dead-cap money set by Russell Wilson, which would be intolerable unless the Dolphins were to continue the team’s trend of trading expensive veterans and committing to a full youth-movement rebuild, including the quarterback position," Orr wrote.

Tight end Jonnu Smith and defensive back Jalen Ramsey are among the noteworthy veterans the Dolphins have moved on from since the end of the 2024 season. It seems as if big-name Miami wide receiver Tyreek Hill could have a new NFL home at any point between Aug. 21 and the Nov. 4 trade deadline. 

Meanwhile, numerous reporters and analysts have said that head coach Mike McDaniel is heading into a critical season regarding his Dolphins tenure. McDaniel failed to guide Miami to a single playoff win over his first three campaigns in charge, while Tagovailoa has zero postseason victories on his career resume.

Additionally, Tagovailoa's well-known injury history continues to be a major concern. The 27-year-old most recently missed four games last season after he suffered his third reported concussion since 2022 in Week 2. He was later sidelined for the final two games of the campaign because of a hip injury.

"In the right offense, he’s accurate, decisive and incredibly good at avoiding idiotic sacks," Orr added. "Most seasons, he hovers in the 20s in sacks taken — this, despite a woeful offensive line situation. I think all these intangibles are valuable qualities and, if the Dolphins are pivoting regime-wise, or at least toward a new personnel direction, it makes sense to entertain any and all offers (for Tagovailoa)."

As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Dolphins at +220 odds to make the playoffs for the upcoming season. Such forecasts indicate that Miami ownership could soon embrace a franchise reset, one that may result in the club ending its Tagovailoa era.