Dolphins hand Quinn Ewers the franchise keys with Tua Tagovailoa's release

The Miami Dolphins made the move that everyone has been expecting since the 2025 season ended, releasing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

On Monday, Miami announced it will release Tagovailoa with a post-June 1 designation before the new league year. Now, the starting job will fall on the shoulders and arms of Quinn Ewers, who will get a shot to compete for the starting job along with a free agent veteran the Dolphins are now likely to pursue.

Jon-Eric Sullivan has preached competition in the quarterback room, and with Tagovailoa gone, the battle for who will start this season will be one of the best and most discussed offseason topics. It should make training camp a lot more exciting.

Quinn Ewers will have competition for the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback job

Ewers will not simply be gifted the job. He could compete with a free agent quarterback, possibly Malik Willis, and at least one draft pick, and likely an undrafted quarterback as well. Miami will need to add players either in free agency or the draft, but for now, Ewers is the guy.

Dolphins fans should be excited about the future despite the current look of the roster. Everyone knew that major changes were needed to fix the problems. Stephen Ross' smartest decision as an owner may have been hiring Troy Aikman as an advisor.

Aikman had a front row seat to not only Tagovailoa's Monday night loss to the Steelers that knocked them out of the playoffs, but also the ability to get a look at McDaniel as well.

Losing to the Steelers gave McDaniel the reasons he needed to start Ewers. He was far from perfect, but there was marked improvement from his first start to his last, and that is what the Dolphins are going to hopefully build around.

Ewers may not start; we have to make it clear. He isn't 100% ready to be an NFL starter, but the Dolphins may not need him to be. It would be fantastic if he were, but if we look at this from a realistic standpoint, Miami is going to eventually draft the guy they believe will be the franchise starter.

That makes Ewers' role more important for the sake of the Dolphins. Miami needs a reliable backup, too, so if Ewers can't make that jump to being a starter that Jeff Hafley is comfortable with, perhaps he develops enough to give the coaching staff enough reason to believe he is their best option to backup the starter.

Miami used to have great backups dating back to Earl Morrall. Don Strock was another, but the last truly good backup was Matt Moore. Dolphins fans would be thrilled if that became Ewers' floor.

With Tagovailoa gone, it's anyone's game now. Ewers has familiarity with the system since Bobby Slowik remained as the OC, but he has to take the next step to prove he is the guy. Regardless of whether or not that is as a starter, or a legitimate number two backup.