New Dolphins GM gives huge Tua Tagovailoa update after report

A report from Super Bowl Sunday revealed that "all signs are pointing toward" the new Miami Dolphins regime moving on from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at some point after the new league year opens on March 11. 

While speaking at a fan event on Thursday, recently hired Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan offered some insight on how he and new head coach Jeff Hafley currently view Tagovailoa.

Is new Dolphins regime already looking for a Tua Tagovailoa replacement? 

"Of course, we’ll be looking at other quarterbacks in this draft," Sullivan admitted, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "And every draft hereafter. But, look, I’ve had — Tua was in my office the other day, if I’m being perfectly frank. We had a great conversation. Tua has been a very good player in this league. He’s done a lot of really good things for the Miami Dolphins. You guys should be proud to have him and having had him."

The previous Dolphins regime signed Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212.4M contract in the summer of 2024. More recently, Tagovailoa was benched in favor of rookie Quinn Ewers due to poor play late this past season. Specifically, the StatMuse website shows that Tagovailoa was responsible for the third-most turnovers (16) committed from Week 1 through Week 18 of the 2025 campaign. 

NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero previously mentioned that the Dolphins "would likely have to eat a large chunk of [Tagovailoa's] $54M fully-guaranteed salary for 2026 and another $45.2M dead cap charge" to trade the signal-caller this offseason. If nothing else, it sounds like Tagovailoa isn't promised a starting job if he stays in Miami. 

Tua Tagovailoa 'knows' Dolphins' mindset regarding QB situation

"I don’t know what the future holds right now, and I told Tua that," Sullivan continued. "We’re working through some things. What I can tell you is that we’re gonna infuse competition into that room, whether Tua is part of the room, whether he’s not part of the room. We’re gonna infuse competition into that room, like we will do in every other position. Tua knows where we are. We’ve been very honest and upfront, and Tua also knows that he will be the first to know when we make a decision. So if Tua is the first to know, you guys can’t be the first to know, and I know that you respect and appreciate that."

Sullivan added that "we’re getting close to a decision" regarding Tagovailoa's future. Tagovailoa would clearly embrace a "fresh start" elsewhere this spring, and it appears he'll soon find out if that fresh start will involve working with Hafley or with a different coaching staff.