Jon-Eric Sullivan talks Tua Tagovailoa and Dolphins' future at QB

Jon-Eric Sullivan does not know which way the Miami Dolphins will go at quarterback in 2026. 

Sullivan was hired by the Dolphins after a long stint in the front office of the Green Bay Packers. His first move as GM was to poach Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to be his new head coach in Miami.

He's got a ton more work to do this season, but nothing will be more important than figuring out what the 'Fins need to do at quarterback.

Tua Tagovailoa signed a four-year $212.4 million extension in July 2024, but he was benched with several games remaining in favor of rookie Quinn Ewers. Tagovailoa threw for 20 touchdowns compared to 15 interceptions, and he's mentioned already this offseason that he wouldn't mind a fresh start.

Sullivan does believe that figuring out the direction at quarterback is vital, but he's also taking a "wait and see" approach with it here in January as he starts trying to build a strong infrastructure around whichever quarterback starts for the Dolphins in 2026.

"We need to get the quarterback situation in place, but we're not going to do it in an irresponsible manner where we sacrifice building the infrastructure of this football team," Sullivan said on Wednesday, according to Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. "So that when we do find our guy, he can be successful. We've all seen teams that go about it maybe in a questionable manner and you get a really good quarterback, but he can't stay healthy because he's getting killed or he doesn't have anybody to throw to."

Interestingly, while Sullivan did mention Tagovailoa as well as Ewers, by name, he also didn't shy away from the possibility that the Dolphins' next quarterback currently isn't on the roster.

"So yes, we will find our guy, but we're going to make sure that we're building the infrastructure along the way so when we do find our trigger man — whoever that may be, whether it's Tua, Quinn [Ewers] or somebody that's not in the building — we have a team that he can go play and win with," he said.

Tua Tagovailoa represents a problem for the Miami Dolphins moving forward 

That brings up an interesting dynamic for Sullivan to work through in his first season as GM. Since Tagovailoa just signed his contract, he'd represent a crippling $99 million dead cap hit if he was released by the Dolphins before June 1. If the Dolphins released him after June 1 that would drop to $67.4 million, but $31.8 million in dead cap will roll over into 2027.

Those are some massive dead cap numbers, and Sullivan was transparent in saying that the question of who the quarterback will be moving forward is like a shadow looming over the Dolphins.

With that said, coming from Green Bay, he does understand that it pays to be bold at quarterback. What he learned in multiple years in Green Bay will absolutely paint his decision-making moving forward for Miami.

"I've learned if you can help it, don't wait until you don't have a quarterback to find one," he said. "If you think about what we did with Aaron [Rodgers] ... You've got to remember, Brett [Favre] was still in place and playing at a very high level, and there were a lot of people in that building that didn't think drafting a quarterback who was going to sit for an extended amount of time as a first-round pick made a lot of sense was where we were as a team ... the history speaks for itself."