Mike McDaniel Gets $79.2M Tua Tagovailoa News as Dolphins QB Admits to Poor Performance

After an 11-6 record in 2023 and 8-9 in 2024, the Miami Dolphins’ performance in the 2025 season was under heavy scrutiny. The team was heading into the season without veterans like Jalen Ramsey and Terron Armstead. There were no proper replacements either. Now, it looks like the mounting pressure has taken a toll on the Dolphins. The team opened the season with a lopsided 33-8 loss against the Indianapolis Colts. This has shifted the spotlight back on Tua Tagovailoa, and with fans calling for his head, an analyst has made a revelation in an attempt to calm the angry supporters. 

Although no one played well for the Dolphins, it’s Tua Tagovailoa who is taking the heavy toll of criticism. It was Tagovailoa’s alarming stats against the Colts that led to his online criticism. A lot of fumbling and misjudgment with a 51.7 passer rating. But Mike McDaniel has stepped up to avoid blaming just the QB for the humiliating loss. While accepting the QB’s bad performance, McDaniel said, “It was something left to be desired….there are throws he makes nine times out of 10, and he didn’t make them today. Definitely not all on him — too many people failed at the execution of their jobs for him to have anything extra on his shoulders.”

But even after Mike’s best effort to shift the attention, Tagovailoa had to deal with heavy criticism on social media. The criticism went so far that ESPN analyst Matt Miller took to X to post about the dead cap space required to cut the young QB. He posted, “It would cost $79.2M in dead cap space to cut Tua. Just getting that info out there before we get too crazy.”

Before the 2024 NFL season, Tua Tagovailoa signed a $212.4 million contract extension with the Dolphins. He is currently earning $25 in base salary for 2025 and is due to make $39 million as base salary in 2026. In the past, the Dolphins set the record with an $85 million cap hit to release Russell Wilson, but it’s unlikely to happen with Tagovailoa this season. This is because the QB fill-ins on the Dolphins’ roster are only Quinn Ewers and Zach Wilson. Amidst the criticism, the QB knows he didn’t deliver against the Colts. 

After a tough outing, Tagovailoa makes no attempt to dodge accountability

After the match, Tua Tagovailoa accepted his mistakes while addressing the media. “This was a lack of a lot of things,” Tagovailoa said. This shows that the QB is aware of the heavy burden he carries, and the team has struggled in the game. Against the Colts, he managed only 114 yards on 14 completions and threw two interceptions while losing a fumble. 

But the former first-round pick’s statement wasn’t just confined to his own performance and the team’s struggle. He went further to address the disappointment among fans as well. “The way we lost? Nobody pays, none of the fans pay to go watch the Miami Dolphins put up 8 points and to watch the other team drop 30 on them,” Tagovailoa said. He further added, “A lot of things we have to look at. We have to look in the mirror. It starts with me.”

Dolphin’s offense went scoreless in the first half, and Tua Tagovailoa ended up with just 14 of 23 passes. He even failed to complete any of his three pressured attempts and was not in sync with Wide receiver Tyreek Hill.  His third-down throw was intercepted by the rookie Laiatu Latu, and his misjudged overthrow to Tyreek Hill was picked off by Camryn Bynum. All of this has put Tagovailoa’s ability to lead the offense under scrutiny and has drawn criticism from the fans on social media platforms. 

Even in the previous season, Tagovailoa played 11 games and managed 2,867 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. He missed many games due to a concussion-related stint. Although the QB had a bad start this season but he knows what went wrong. With head coach Mike McDaniel showing confidence in the QB, it is expected that he will bounce back.