Dolphins Go From Tank For Tua To Termination Of Tua Tagovailoa

What began for the Miami Dolphins as a hopeful tank for Tua in 2019 when owner Stephen Ross agreed to and, indeed, encouraged the team to lose games to attain the top draft pick in the 2020 draft, came to end on Monday.

The Dolphins announced they have informed Tua Tagovailoa he will be released at the start of the new league year on Wednesday.

Dolphins: Great Respect For Tua

Tank for Tua eventually led in a termination of Tua after six seasons.

"As I shared with Tua, I have great respect for the person and player he is," new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said in a team statement. ""On behalf of the Miami Dolphins, I expressed our gratitude for his many contributions, both on the field and in the community during his six seasons in Miami.

"As we move forward, we will be focused on infusing competition across the roster and establishing a strong foundation for this team as we work towards building a sustained winner."

Two things:

The Dolphins aren't going to be doing much sustained winning in 2026. 

Secondly, the Tagovailoa performance and contract situation is a primary reason.

Dec 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson (41) sacks Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) in the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Performance Dipped After New Contract

Tagovailoa was drafted to be the Dolphins long-term answer at QB. And he looked like that at times, particularly in 2022 when he led the NFL in passer rating and in 2023 when he led the league with 4,622 yards.

But something funny (terrible, actually) happened to Tagovailoa after the 2024 season. 

He signed a four-year, $212.4 million contract that made him among the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks. And he immediately stopped performing like one of the NFL's best quarterbacks.

Maybe the multiple concussions he suffered caught up with him. Maybe his college hip injury flared up. But Tagovailoa lost velocity on his throws. Lost confidence.

And last year lost his job in what was the lowpoint. He threw 15 interceptions – second-worst mark in the league. And he was benched at the end of the season by coach Mike McDaniel, who had shown great confidence in him years prior.

Mike McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa. (Getty Images)

Tagovailoa Leaves Rough Contract

The quarterback's poor performance led to losses, which led to McDaniel getting fired, which led to a new administration headed by Sullivan that wants a new start.

The Tagovailoa contract, meanwhile, is a gift that will keep on taking after Tagovailoa is gone. He leaves a remaining cap hit (dead cap) of $99 million. The Dolphins will also be on the hook for Tagovailoa’s fully guaranteed $54 million salary for the 2026 season.

The club is designating Tagovailoa a post-June 1 release that allows them to prorate the dead cap money but the dead money this year is still $67.4 million for a player obviously not on the roster.

The dead money – and other unwise salary cap and contract decisions – has put the Dolphins in a tough salary cap situation that they will have to dig out of.

And the digging only begins in 2026 which means a significant amount of losing is about to happen.