The Miami Dolphins have a problem. And there’s apparently only one solution to it.
They need to release quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
A trade is looking less and less likely. If a trade happens, it would have to be a Brock Osweiler-type deal, with the Dolphins giving Tua’s new team something significant to take on Tua’s contract.
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The Dolphins owe him $54 million in 2026, fully guaranteed. They’ll absorb a $99.2 million cap charge if/when they cut him.
As to the difficulty of making a trade happen, consider this. Via Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, an unnamed “high-ranking team executive” said that he “considered taking on Tagovailoa if the Dolphins would send a first-round pick to take on the freight of his contract.”
In 2017, the Texans sent a second-round pick in 2018 and a 2017 sixth-round pick to the Browns to get them to absorb Osweiler’s contract, which had $16 million in full guarantees that year. (Houston received a 2017 fourth-round pick in return.)
In 2021, the Rams did it in a more subtle fashion, essentially tucking an extra first-round pick into the Matthew Stafford trade to get the Lions to assume Jared Goff’s guarantees.
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Whether the Dolphins find a taker for Tua remains to be seen. The compensation sent with Tua’s contract will become less obvious if it’s part of a bigger trade.
Regardless, the Dolphins will have to give someone else something valuable to take on a large chunk of the $54 million Tua is owed this year, thanks to an ill-advised contract that former G.M. Chris Grier gave to Tagovailoa two years ago.
