Tua Tagovailoa News: Future in Miami uncertain

Tagovailoa said Monday, in the wake of Miami's season finale loss to the Patriots, that it "would be dope" to get a fresh start with another team during the 2026 season, Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN reports.

Tagovailoa didn't go as far as stating that he plans to request a trade, but he said he "would be good with it" if he were to play elsewhere in 2026. Head coach Mike McDaniel said the Dolphins will host a quarterback competition in 2026 and left the door open for rookie Quinn Ewers (knee) to start, but he declined to comment on Tagovailoa being benched in Week 16. Across 14 regular-season appearances, Tagovailoa completed 260 of 384 pass attempts for 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, while adding 43 yards on 20 carries and fumbling eight times. He led the NFL in INTs at the time of his benching. After having inked him to a four-year, $212.4 million contract in July of 2024, Miami would face a $99.2 million cap hit in 2026 by cutting Tagovailoa before June 1, while releasing him after that date would spread the cap hit across the next two seasons. Given Tagovailoa's salary, finding a trade partner for the 27-year-old signal-caller will be a difficult task.