The future of Tua Tagovailoa in the NFL is looking more and more like it will not be in South Florida. In fact, after Miami Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan met with the media on Tuesday in Indianapolis, he all but said the quarterback is gone.
There are only so many ways you can say a player isn't returning to your team without actually standing at a microphone and saying it out loud. Sullivan may just as well have said it. Every fan knows it's coming, the media knows it's coming, and Tagovailoa should know it's coming as well.
Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan on Tua Tagovailoa status “everything is on table, including possibility of a trade.”
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) February 24, 2026
Sully said Tua hasn’t requested a trade. As we’ve noted, Dolphins are in process of finding new franchise QB & team preference is a trade over a release. We’ll see. pic.twitter.com/p6aiKUrRSb
Jon-Eric Sullivan continues to avoid comments on Tua Tagovailoa staying with the Miami Dolphins
Every time one of the Dolphins' new men in charge steps to a microphone, they have a chance to quiet the noise surrounding Tagovailoa. It takes only one comment to breathe life into the QB sticking around for another season. Miami isn't doing that.
Sullivan has consistently said that "Everything is on the table," as it relates to the quarterback. He went so far as to point out on Tuesday that it includes a possible trade. In other words, the Dolphins are actively trying to trade him. The first time they have openly said so.
That is an important piece in all of this. Sullivan continues to say things like "Whether Tua is a part of that competition," or "Whether Tua is on the roster," but what he is really saying is Tagovailoa is not coming back.
Sullivan openly talked about the excitement of seeing what Quinn Ewers can bring, and he acknowledged that the team is talking about Malik Willis. Positives all around for anyone not named Tagovailoa.
Later in his interview, Sullivan said that the team doesn't know "Who will be in the room with Quinn." This was a comment about the competition. He said it could be two draft picks or a free agent veteran. He didn't say Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins don't want him back, and it is clear that message has been heard by Tagovailoa and his agency as well. How does he come back now? This is the second time in his Dolphins career that he has been the point of trade discussions, dating back to Brian Flores' flirtation with Deshaun Watson.
The best course for Tagovailoa is a road that leads him away from the Dolphins. There has been speculation that an announcement could come as early as the weekend.
Sullivan acknowledged that while the team could release him and eat the entire $99 million in one season, it's unlikely. If that is the case, Miami would have to release him as a post June 1st cut. They would eat part of the contract this year, and the rest in 2027.