After the Monday Night Football loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel made one thing clear: a quarterback change was at least being considered. “The quarterback play last night was not good enough. So for me, everything is on the table,” he said. And history tells us that once a coach starts publicly floating the idea of a QB switch, it’s usually only a matter of time.

Sure enough, it happened. By Wednesday, the Dolphins had benched Tua Tagovailoa. Fast forward a day, and McDaniel openly admitted what, in his view, went wrong with his franchise quarterback.

“I think this is a player that his M.O. had been growth, and just an exceptional learner, and he’s (Tua’s) always evolving. There’s compounding variables that you can’t just pinpoint one or two things, and I still believe that his growth can continue,” the HC said. “But I couldn’t responsibly play this next game when I thought what the team needed was available and live in hope and wish and stuff.”

While McDaniel believes his QB is still growing, he couldn’t justify starting him and hoping it would work out, given everything going on. And with Miami sitting at 6–8 and effectively out of the playoff race, the move felt less shocking and more inevitable despite the team riding on a four-game winning streak before the Steelers’ loss. The reasons, though, go beyond one decision or one week. Take the 28–15 loss to Pittsburgh as an example.

The box score looks respectable: 22 of 28 passing for 253 yards and two touchdowns. But dig deeper, and a different story emerges. Much of that production came in garbage time. Through the first three quarters, Tagovailoa struggled. He completed just 6 of 10 passes for 65 yards, threw an interception, and took two third-down sacks.

During that stretch, Miami managed only five first downs and 93 total yards. The third quarter was especially brutal, with the offense producing minus-20 yards across two drives. And this wasn’t a one-game issue. Even during Miami’s four-game winning streak, the warning signs were there. The Dolphins won, yes. But Tagovailoa failed to top 175 passing yards in any of those games, throwing three touchdowns and three interceptions along the way. Once the ground game slowed down, his limitations became harder to hide.

Overall, one thing became clear as the season unfolded: Tua wasn’t efficient enough. Through 15 weeks, he totaled 2,660 passing yards and 20 touchdowns with a solid 67.6 percent completion rate. But he also led the league with 15 interceptions, a number that ultimately tipped the scales.

With rookie Quinn Ewers expected to start down the stretch, Tagovailoa’s future in Miami is suddenly uncertain. And while he remains under contract through the 2028 season, that reality doesn’t make the situation any simpler. If anything, it ensures the Dolphins’ quarterback dilemma is far from over.

The Dolphins face harsh salary cap math after benching Tua Tagovailoa

When the Dolphins opened the season, they certainly didn’t expect to bench their franchise quarterback just a year after handing him a four-year, $212.4 million extension. The Dolphins made Tua Tagovailoa one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL. But just two seasons into that contract extension, the decision already looks like it has backfired.

Tua was limited to only 11 games in the 2024 season because of injury. Fast forward to now, and he’s been benched with three games still left. And while the rumors are growing that this could mark the end of Tua’s time in Miami, his contract comes with some harsh, unforgiving salary-cap math for the Dolphins. Simply put, they’re staring at a $99 million problem.

“Nothing about this contract says it’s time to get out.” Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac reported. “Assuming they can’t find a trade partner, Miami could be primed to designate Tua a Post 6/1 release (before another $3M vests on March 13th). There’s $99,200,000 of dead cap currently attached to the deal, including $54M of fully guaranteed salary.”

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To break it down simply, Tua is fully guaranteed $54 million for next season. But cutting him before June 1, 2026, would saddle the Dolphins with a massive $99.2 million in dead cap. If they wait and cut him after June 1, the hit becomes easier to spread: $67.4 million in 2026 and another $31.8 million pushed into 2027. But the total still lands at the same $99.2 million.

And that naturally raises the big question: Is there any real way out of this contract dilemma? Technically, yes. The Dolphins could trade him. But realistically, it’s hard to imagine another team lining up to absorb that kind of contract, especially given how his recent performances have played out. So no, benching Tua Tagovailoa didn’t end Miami’s problems. If anything, it sped them up, leaving the franchise stuck in limbo.