Former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Terron Armstead makes a compelling case for the team to keep Tua Tagovailoa.
Former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Terron Armstead remains a huge advocate for his former team and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. While he can be both objective and subjective with his opinions at times, the former lineman has made a compelling case for his former quarterback.
It is well known that the Dolphins are seeking a trade partner for Tagovailoa, but are unlikely to get one due to his $54 million guaranteed money. Even paying down most or all of that money would still make the trade a bit dubious, which is why Armstead has made a case for the Dolphins to keep the quarterback.
A major reason the Dolphins could and should explore what Armstead is pitching is due to the massive cap hit for releasing Tagovailoa. If he is designated a post-June 1 cut, the $99.2 million that is triggered will be split between 2026 and 2027.
If general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan instead waits to 2027, the contract aftermath would be lessened, but there is a bigger reason Armstead believes should leadto Tagovailoa staying put.
"If the Dolphins don’t have a trade partner, a legitimate trade partner for Tua, they should keep him," Armstead said. "If you release Tua, Adam Schefter reported, you will be looking at roughly $99 million of dead money.
Initially, Armstead indicated that the Dolphins should keep Tagovailoa if a trade partner is not found. However, his reasoning has to do with creating the competitive nature that head coach Jeff Hafley and Sullivan have preached.
"If you keep Tua on the roster, allow him to compete, to work on his game, to push whoever you bring in. Malik Willis, a draft pick, or Quinn Ewers — it’s competition. Create that competition. Create that environment."
Armstead has a major point in that keeping Tagovailoa could lead to competition in the quarterback room for everyone involved. Should the team be aiming to let Quinn Ewers start, he will have to step up in a big way, which could be a chance to see his evolution and growth in real time.
The same can be said if Malik Willis signed, as he would have to beat out Tagovailoa and Ewers to be the starter.
A potential downfall of the situation would be Tagovailoa rebounding and having to be named starter. To be fair, the same thing happened to Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young.
Young was benched in 2024, leading to a huge bounce-back at the end of the season when he was named starter again.
There is no telling if and when Tagovailoa can bounce back, but it is not as thought it is out of the realm of possibility. Armstead also believes this, pointing to the fact that a lot of quaterbacks do not hit their stride until they are 30.
"The man just turned 28, and we've seen quarterbacks not hit their stride until 30. He's shown some already before 30, and not advocating for Tua to be the starting guy ... but if you have to have the financial hit for a guy, it's really tough seeing that number against the cap for a player who is not in the building, so you hold on to the player for potential leverage — even though that might not happen."
Right now, the Dolphins do not have leverage on the situation, but they could garner some by keeping Tagovailoa for another year.
There are a lot of variables to consider, but Armstead did make some strong points on keeping the quarterback. However, the Dolphins seem poised to move on, as the social accounts made no mention of Tagovailoa's birthday.
While that might not sound like a big deal, it is the proverbial writing on the wall that the organization will move on.