Miami Dolphins quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, is not really on the hot-seat. And certainly less so than head coach, Mike McDaniel, who could be facing a critical fourth season as head coach of the franchise.
But given both his poor injury record and struggles in the post-season – particularly in cold weather – it is not inconceivable that over the next couple of years, the Dolphins may start to look elsewhere for their QB of the future.
And that is exactly what Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports predicts may happen, as he proposes that Miami could be one of the team’s best poised to jump on the opportunity to draft Arch Manning when he likely declares for the draft in two seasons time, in 2027.
“Questions surrounding Tua Tagovailoa’s availability every week continue to fester (Not to mention his play later in the season in colder weather).” Sullivan wrote on Thursday, “All of this could come to a head as soon as this season, but what if the Dolphins brass decides to give this group one more season, especially if they tread water this year?
”The Dolphins Could Sever Ties With Tua After The 2026 SeasonSullivan believes that whilst its unlikely that Tua departs after this forthcoming season in 2025, the Dolphins may move off the former Alabama QB after the 2026 season if he cannot break past the first round of the playoffs.
“If the dam instead breaks in 2026, Miami could get out of Tagovailoa’s contract rather easily after that season. Per Over the Cap, the veteran quarterback has no guaranteed money due to him in the final two years of his deal (2027 and 2028) and would create cap savings of $36.6 million (2027) and $57.4 million (2028) over that stretch.
Essentially, they’d have a window to clear the deck on the QB depth chart, which would allow them to usher in Manning pretty seamlessly. If they decided to move off of McDaniel at that juncture as well, the lure of getting Manning as your quarterback to develop would make the Dolphins arguably the most desirable job that cycle.”What Does The Dolphins Future Look Like At QB?
The numbers on Tua’s contract clearly have controversy, as Spotrac specifies that the team would only save around $18 million by cutting him in the standard, pre-June 1st format.
However, if he was designated as a post-June 1st cut, the team would save around $37 million in 2027 – as quoted by Sullivan, although they would also incur a dead cap hit of $18.4 million in 2028 – cancelling out some of the rookie quarterback benefits in two of his four cheapest seasons on a future rookie.
Manning has yet to even start for the Longhorns, let alone become a top – or even the top pick in two years time. But he is widely believed to be one of the top quarterback talents of recent years, and now with two years sitting behind previous starter and – ironically – now Dolphin, Quinn Ewers, he could be set to wreck some havoc in the SEC over the ensuing years.
This is all speculative at this point, but there is certainly no guarantee that; if the going doesn’t get better for Tua and Miami; the franchise won’t move off both their signal caller and head coach in the near future.