The Miami Dolphins are benching Tua Tagovailoa for rookie seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers, a person with knowledge of the quarterback change told The Associated Press, with ESPN also reporting the news.
The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t announced the switch.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he was considering it after a 28-15 loss to the Steelers on Monday night eliminated Miami (6-8) from playoff contention.
Tagovailoa leads the NFL with 15 interceptions and hasn’t played up to his contract after signing a four-year, $212.4m extension in July 2024.
Ewers went 5-for-8 for 53 yards in his only action this season in a lopsided loss to the Browns in October. He was the 231st player selected in the draft last April after starting three seasons at Texas.
The 27-year-old Tagovailoa had started every game this season but has a history of concussions. He missed six games last season after playing 17 games in 2023. He led the NFL in yards passing that season, helped the Dolphins win 11 games to earn a wild-card spot and earned a big contract that included $167.2m guaranteed.
Tagovailoa is guaranteed a total of $54m for 2026. The Dolphins would incur significant hits to the salary cap by releasing Tagovailoa. Releasing him next year would result in a $99m dead cap charge. If the move is designated as a post-1 June release, those charges are split over two years with $67.4m allocated to the 2026 cap and $31.8m in 2027.
The Denver Broncos took the NFL’s all-time biggest cap hit of $85m for releasing Russell Wilson in 2024.
