The Miami Dolphins have made the decision to bench Tua Tagovailoa and move forward with Quinn Ewers at quarterback for the final three games of the 2025 season. While it might have come as a shock to the NFL talking heads, Dolphins fans aren't all that surprised by this decision whatsoever.
The Dolphins will now see what they have in Ewers, and it's probable that Tagovailoa is spending his final few weeks with the team that drafted him in 2020. While the Dolphins will have to eat a significant amount of money from Tagovailoa's contract, this was ultimately the right decision for the team to make. Let's break down why.
Miami Dolphins had plenty of reasons to demote Tua Tagovailoa
Tua's performance simply wasn't good enough anymore
It sure looked like the Dolphins might have their franchise quarterback in the 2023 season after Tagovailoa threw for over 4,600 yards and had that offense absolutely humming. Everything sort of came crashing down in the final month of that season, though, but the Dolphins still decided to pay Tua as if he was a franchise quarterback when fans didn't necessarily think that was the right move.
Turns out, it wasn't the right move. Tagovailoa missed six games in 2024 and had regressed from his explosive 2023 season. He was even worse in 2025, throwing a league-leading 15 interceptions before his benching.
Considering the Dolphins had paid Tagovailoa with the expectation that he'd play like a franchise quarterback and failed to do so, this decision was coming sooner rather than later.
Dolphins aren't going anywhere this year
With their loss to the Steelers on Monday night, the Dolphins were officially eliminated from playoff contention. While yes, there's still stuff to play for (mostly draft positioning), the season is pretty much done even with three games remaining on the schedule.
With that said, what's the point in continuing to play Tua if the Dolphins are out of playoff contention? Also, what if he were to get injured? Moving on from him would become even more complicated, as teams would certainly not want to trade for him then.
Dolphins need to see what they have in Quinn Ewers
As mentioned above, the Dolphins don't have anything to play for in these final three games. That makes this the perfect time to throw Ewers out there and see what he can provide for this team moving forward.
The Dolphins already know what they can and can't get from Tagovailoa, so why continue to trot him onto the field in meaningless games? If Ewers plays well in these final three games, it could make things a lot easier on Miami entering the offseason knowing that it'd have a viable quarterback replacement on the roster.