Why the Dolphins Can (And Should) Take Their Time With Tua Decision

The future of Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa is very much up in the air.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) warms up before the 2025 season finale against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Miami Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan conducted two media sessions Tuesday: a private meeting with South Florida reporters and his press conference at the Indiana Convention Center. The topic of Tua Tagovailoa was the dominant one in both, as expected.

And, as expected, Sullivan offered no definitive statements because, as the new Miami Dolphins general manager, he owes it to himself and the organization to keep all options available.

Sullivan did, however, say that one of those options clearly is less likely than the others, and it also happens to be the one that would offer the quickest resolution as to Tagovailoa's status for the 2026 season.

That option would be to make Tagovailoa a regular cut and for the Dolphins to absorb a $99 million cap hit all at once.

Sullivan said it was "not likely" the Dolphins could make the math work under the salary cap to make that move, according to Isaiah Smalls of The Miami Herald, who was part of that media session.

If that option is out, that would leave four potential scenarios involving Tagovailoa: keeping him on the roster for 2026, making him a post-June 1 cut, trading him before June 1 or trading him after June 1.

The immediate cut, which is no longer feasible, incidentally, was the only one that could have been done before the start of the league year on March 11, meaning no movement involving Tagovailoa will happen before that date.

And the truth is, the Dolphins absolutely should take their time making this decision.

WHY THERE'S NO HURRY WITH TUA

As has been stated many times, the clear and obvious preference for the Dolphins would be to work out a trade for him, which won't be easy given the $45 million cap commitment for 2026 that the acquiring team would take on.

It's also logical that a market for Tua, if there ever will be one, would develop after the first flurry of free agent signings if a team looking for a quarterback comes up short in their pursuit.

That makes it more advantageous for the Dolphins to hold on to Tagovailoa for a bit longer — if they, as is widely believed and has been reported regularly, do want to move on from him.

The Dolphins start their offseason program April 6, but there's really no need to have Tagovailoa around if the team has decided he won't be part of the roster.

That's assuming the Dolphins haven't made the post-June 1 cut before then. That move can't be done until the new league year arrives March 1, and Tagovailoa's new cap number of $67 million wouldn't take effect until June 1 — a very rare instance when the cap number actually goes up on that second date.