Dolphins to Release Tua
The Miami Dolphins are expected to release Tua Tagovailoa by the third day of the new league year, making him a free agent if no trade partner emerges. The Minnesota Vikings are reportedly considering both Tagovailoa and Arizona's Kyler Murray as possible additions. This sets up a wild QB shuffle as multiple teams reevaluate their signal-caller situations.
The Miami Dolphins' decision to move on from Tua Tagovailoa is a costly one, triggered by a performance decline after signing a massive extension. The team is facing a staggering $99.2 million in dead money if they release him, the largest such hit in NFL history. To manage this, the Dolphins will almost certainly designate him a post-June 1 cut, which splits the dead cap hit into $67.4 million in 2026 and $31.8 million in 2027. This move comes after Tagovailoa was benched for rookie Quinn Ewers late in the 2025 season, a year where he threw a career-high 15 interceptions. This downturn in play followed a 2023 season where he led the NFL in passing yards, which led to the four-year, $212.4 million extension he signed in July 2024. The Dolphins are in a tight salary cap situation for 2026, projected to be just under $1 million under the cap, making Tagovailoa's $56.2 million cap hit for 2026 untenable for a player who was benched. The Minnesota Vikings are a primary team to watch in the Tagovailoa sweepstakes. They are reportedly looking for a veteran quarterback to bring in and are not fully committed to their 2024 first-round pick, J.J. McCarthy, who had an inconsistent and injury-plagued 2025 season. The Vikings' front office has stated they are "exploring all possibilities" at the position. Adding to the quarterback carousel, Arizona's Kyler Murray is another name linked to the Vikings. Murray carries a significant cap hit of over $52 million for 2026. A trade would be more financially feasible for the Cardinals, as a pre-June 1 trade would result in a much smaller dead cap hit of $17.9 million compared to a release. Murray is coming off a 2025 season where he completed 60 of 89 passes for 4 touchdowns and 1 interception in the early part of the season. The quarterback market is expected to have several other veteran options, creating a wide-ranging shuffle. Names like Geno Smith, who is likely to be released by the Las Vegas Raiders, and potentially Kirk Cousins, who will be released by the Atlanta Falcons, could also be in the mix for teams seeking a new signal-caller. This abundance of experienced quarterbacks could influence the market for both Tagovailoa and Murray.
