Will the Tua-Tannehill Parallels Include Similar Exits?

The Miami Dolphins might move on from their 2020 first-round pick this offseason

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) throws in the first quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium in Week 15 this season. | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

The fate of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will remain the biggest offseason question for the Miami Dolphins until there's a clear answer as to whether he'll be retained, released or traded.

Complicating matters, of course, is Tagovailoa's contract, which calls for a $56.4 million cap hit in 2026 with $54 million fully guaranteed, along with a new regime taking over and the idea of starting from scratch in every area certainly something to consider.

It actually feels a bit like we're back to 2019 when the Dolphins had another first-round quarterback who was under contract for not-insignificant money but whose time in Miami had run its course.

Yeah, talking here about Ryan Tannehill.

If you've followed the Dolphins long enough or know your Dolphins history, it's not a revelation that Tua and Tannehill make up half the total of quarterbacks Miami had selected in the first round, the other two being Hall of Famers Bob Griese and Dan Marino — not counting 1966 pick Rick Norton because that was an AFL draft.

There are a lot of similarities between Tua and Tannehill beyond both being first-round picks if we're being honest. The selection of each was less than unanimous among fans and media analysts and each got a contract extension that proved problematic, to say the least.

And now we're left to wonder whether there will be yet another, maybe two more significant similarities, Tua leaving town via trade like Tannehill did in 2019 and the Dolphins having to pay some of his money in 2026 to make a deal happen.

We couldn't help but notice a social media post from NFL insider Josina Anderson on Tuesday who floated the idea of maybe the New York Jets becoming a logical trading partner if the AFC East rivals wind up hiring Darrell Bevell as their offensive coordinator, though the thought of Tua playing in those windy conditions at MetLife Stadium, particularly late in the season, makes the idea seem a bit farfetched, no matter the benefit of familiarity.

REVISITING THE TANNEHILL TRADE

The Dolphins were in a transition period in 2019, just like they are this year, with Brian Flores coming in as the new head coach and Chris Grier given more personnel authority after the departure of Senior Vice President of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum.

Those Dolphins were in clear rebuilding mode — some might even say tanking mode — so they proceeded to move their big-money veterans in the offseason in order to clear cap space and accumulate draft capital.

The biggest domino to fall in the offseason was Tannehill, who was traded to the Tennessee Titans on March 15 along with a sixth-round pick in exchange for picks in the fourth and seventh rounds. The Dolphins agreed to pay $5 million of Tannehill's salary after restructuring his contract.

Tannehill originally was scheduled to count $26.6 million against the Dolphins cap in 2019, and he wound up eating up $18.4 million of dead money, but this move was mainly about moving on.

The numbers obviously are quite different this year, but the overall idea might wind up being the same, the Dolphins deciding that moving on from Tua is the best course of action.

And it may be that they'll end up being forced to pay some of Tua's salary if they do trade him.

The first step will be finding a trade partner, though there are some teams that should be in the market, such as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts, perhaps the Arizona Cardinals, perhaps the Atlanta Falcons, and the aforementioned Jets.

Now, we're not suggesting a trade is going to happen because it's difficult to predict right now the final outcome.

But we could be looking at a Ryan Tannehill deja vu situation.