It's become crystal clear that the Miami Dolphins are done with Tua Tagovailoa. The problem, however, is that they previously opted to extend their former first-round quarterback and are going to have an incredibly difficult time getting out of that contract.
Ian Rapoport pretty much confirmed that the Dolphins wouldn't be able to get out of the contract cleanly, even though fans knew that was going to be the case. Rapoport was asked by Rich Eisen how the Dolphins were planning on navigating the Tagovailoa contract situation.
"If [the Dolphins] are gonna do a trade, they are gonna eat a lot of the salary so it would really be just like, can they save, whatever the number is five or ten [million] and get some sort of draft pick like a mid-route pick something like that. So either way, cap-wise, it stings," Rapoport said on The Rich Eisen Show. "This is a problem. And if you're short of understanding why the move for Chris Grier was made, like this is one of the reasons, right?"
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa has played his way into being nearly untradeable
This is nothing new for Dolphins fans, but it's still upsetting to hear. While Tagovailoa had played well in 2023, he was certainly not deserving of the contract he ended up signing (four years, worth $212 million), and fans knew that even before the ink was dry on that deal.
Tagovailoa showed that he wasn't the answer at quarterback for the Dolphins, and it came to a head this past year when he was benched near season's end. Quinn Ewers played instead and showed promise, deciding to move on from Tagovailoa once and for all even more easily.
Quarterback-needy teams might be more interested in Tagovailoa, but unfortunately for Miami, no one is going to take on that contract. As Rapoport said, if the Dolphins can save any money from a trade and acquire some draft picks, that'd be the best-case scenario at this point. Even that doesn't feel likely, though.
Rapoport did mention how he thinks the Dolphins are correct in completely tearing their roster down and rebuilding. They might not have handled Tua Tagovailoa's contract well, but this new regime is already giving fans hope that things will get better.