On the first day of an NFL offseason that figures to start with many questions for the Miami Dolphins, it seems as though we have gotten an official answer on one of the big ones.
With plenty of speculation revolving around quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his future in Miami, top insider Ian Rapoport had something to say. Along with commenting on the future of head coach Mike McDaniel and the status of rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers, he had this to say about Tua:
"Still need to figure out the Tua Tagovailoa puzzle... I would say we expect them to move on from him, but how will they do it?"
This isn't exactly earth-shattering news, here, but to hear these words coming from Rapoport's mouth should mean something. Dolphins fans -- and many NFL fans alike -- probably expected Miami to part ways with Tua at some point this offseason. But, would they actually do it?
Rapoport essentially answered, "yes."
The Dolphins are all but guaranteed to move on from Tua Tagovialoa with just one lingering question
How?
How do they do it?
It all hinges on whether or not there's a team that is actually willing to take on the monumental contract and, specifically, the cap number for 2026. Tua's cap number for the upcoming season is a whopping $56.4 million.
If the Dolphins somehow found a way to trade him before June 1, then they'd be able to save $11 million after all was said and done. Again, this is if they are somehow able to work out a trade.
It seems like the possibility of Miami having to pay some of his salary in 2026 makes a lot of sense. Otherwise, there's likely not going to be a team out there willing to suck it up and bear that type of cap number.
Instead, the Dolphins would be looking at doing something similar to the Denver Broncos and Russell Wilson. If Miami were to just cut him altogether, they'd be leaving $99 million in dead money and would be in the hole $42 million overall, meaning, instead of a cap savings, they get the polar opposite.
So, like the Atlanta Falcons did last year with Kirk Cousins, the Dolphins may now wait it out just a bit. Time will tell if another team wants to trade for Tua, and maybe we don't even find out our answer until after the 2026 NFL Draft.
Talk about a painfully slow offseason for the man himself, but it's his play that landed him in this situation in the first place.