Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa indicated to the media he would be open to playing for a new team in 2026 and beyond.
Ever since Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel benched Tua Tagovailoa, there have been multiple reports regarding what the organization would do with him moving forward.
The most obvious course of action would be to eat his $90+ million cap hit and cut him, similar to what the Denver Broncos did with Russell Wilson.
Miami might also find a way to trade Tagovailoa to a quarterback-needy team, though they would still have to eat a larger portion of his guaranteed contract, and likely have to sweeten the deal with a draft pick for a team to agree.
Another avenue would be to keep Tagovailoa on the roster through 2026, leaving him as the backup for whatever quarterback (s) the Dolphins bring in to compete.
Either way, Tagovailoa's time in Miami is likely done. Although he could rebound in 2026 and beyond, it appears he is very open to the idea of moving on with a new team.
When Tagovailoa was asked if he would be open to starting fresh with a new team, he gave an excited and direct answer.
"That would be dope. I would be good with it," Tagovailoa said.
Naturally, the Dolphins quarterback would need to establish himself back to a previous version of himself. He led the league in passing yards in 2023 with 4,624 yards and followed that up in 2024 by leading the league with a 72.9 completion percentage.
In 2025, Tagovailoa struggled mightily. There was far less zip on his throwing, which led to 15 interceptions and a host of questions regarding him potentially being injured in some manner.
Tagovailoa denied that his previous college and professional injuries played a part in his 2025 season, but the fact of the matter is that he was benched.
No quarterback wants to be benched, and Tagovailoa's wanting to start over makes a ton of sense. Clearly, the Dolphins finally saw his limitations, which were even more evident in 2025.
McDaniel did indicate he believes that Tagovailoa can return to proper form, but that might likely not happen with the Dolphins organization.
Then again, if Tagovailoa can train hard over the summer and somehow turn things around mechanically, he may recapture the starting job with the Dolphins. This is assuming the team gives him the chance to do so.
Either way, there are plenty of quarterback-needy teams that would likely give Tagovailoa a look, even with his 2025 season going the way that it did.