- NFL
Is the Tua era finally over in Miami?
by Ricky O'DonnellDec 17, 2025, 3:43 PM UTC
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.Tua Tagovailoa is the NFL’s sixth highest-paid player this year. To say that the Miami Dolphins made a mistake in giving him such a big contract would be a massive understatement.
The Dolphins benched Tagovailoa on Wednesday ahead of their Week 16 game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Rookie QB Quinn Ewers will instead get the start for Miami. Ewers was a legendary high school recruit and a Heisman contender with the Texas Longhorns at one point, but he was also only a 7th round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. For Tagovailoa, getting benched for a 7th round rookie is a disaster.
Tua has struggled this season without injured receiver Tyreek Hill as the Dolphins have gotten out to a 6-8 start. He has 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions on the year, but his performance has been even worse than those numbers indicate. If the Dolphins cut him over the offseason, they are going to have a comical amount of dead money on the books. His $54 million salary is already guaranteed for next year, and cutting him triggers an even bigger cap hit.
Read our Matt Warren on the devastating mechanics the Dolphins would face if they release Tua in the upcoming spring or summer.
Tagovailoa has been bad for a myriad of reasons. He just doesn’t have the arm strength to fit balls into tight windows. He’s also been concussed so many times that he’s understandably no longer willing to stand in the pocket and take a hit. His accuracy is shaky at times, and he’s a bit of a statue in the pocket. Ewers likely won’t be much better, but the Dolphins had to try something.
The Dolphins are quietly one of the worst North American pro sports franchises
The Dolphins haven’t advanced in the playoffs since 2000.
Here’s what that looked like on TV:
Miami has been mired in mediocrity for decades with no hope of ever getting out of it. They are the Chicago Bulls of the NFL, only Dan Marino didn’t win the fanbase any rings, let alone six.
The Tua era seems over in Miami. Now the only question is if Mike McDaniel will still be the head coach going forward, and what the Dolphins’ long-term plan at QB looks like.
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