Dolphins rumors: Does anybody actually want Tua Tagovailoa? ‘They are almost stuck with him’

Miami’s quarterback situation looks headed for a messy offseason, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport painted the “most likely” outcome as a trade that requires the Dolphins to swallow a meaningful chunk of Tua Tagovailoa’s money.

With Tagovailoa benched in favor of Quinn Ewers and carrying a fully guaranteed $55 million next season, Rapoport said Miami would prefer to move him via trade while “eating up some of that money,” rather than cutting him and taking on $99 million in dead cap spread over two years.

From there, ESPN’s reporting frames why the league keeps shrugging at the idea of a clean breakup. Executives told ESPN they expect Miami to explore parting with Tagovailoa, but the contract is the entire problem: $54 million in guaranteed money in 2026, plus an additional $3 million in 2027 guarantees if he’s on the roster on the third day of the new league year.

One NFC exec summed up the financial reality bluntly, cutting him doesn’t help them, and the first instinct would be to try to trade him, even if he ends up still on the roster next year. Another AFC exec put it even more plainly: they are almost stuck with him.

Even the “cleanest” trade math comes with strings. ESPN noted that dealing him before June 1 would shed the guarantees, save $11.2 million on the cap, and still leave Miami absorbing a $45.2 million dead money hit.

That’s a tough sell when the league is staring at durability concerns, a benching, and a massive price tag, and multiple execs questioned whether they’d feel comfortable with him as a starter without the fit being very specific.

The market, if it exists, likely depends on free agency and the draft, and ESPN listed several teams that could need a quarterback, including the Jets, Browns, Vikings, Colts, Raiders, Cardinals, and Steelers.

Complicating the whole picture, Miami’s leadership layer is not immune to scrutiny. Adam Schefter pushed back on the idea that head coach Mike McDaniel is definitively safe, saying no final decision has been made and that it’s still “playing out in real time,” which adds another variable to how aggressively the Dolphins might try to reset the roster.

The Dolphins will face the Buccaneers next Sunday, trying to keep the ball rolling.

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