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Miami Dolphins May Be Ready To Bench Tua Tagovailoa
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- Miami Dolphins May Be Ready To Bench Tua Tagovailoa
After tossing another pick in Monday night's loss, no NFL quarterback has thrown more interceptions than Tua Tagovailoa this season. He's up to 15 interceptions on the season, which is one more than his previous career-high, set in 2023 when he started all 17 games and earned a Pro Bowl nod.
There won't be a trip to the Pro Bowl for Tagovailoa this season. Not after his performance, averaging just 190 passing yards per game while also being sacked a career-high 30 times.
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Of course, the Dolphins ' offense has been slacking all season long, so Tagovailoa's struggles are nothing new or recent. The Dolphins rank 23rd in scoring after ranking 22nd last season. In 2023, the Dolphins ranked second in scoring.
Critics have been calling for the Dolphins to make a change for several weeks now. They got their wish, in some form, when general manager Chris Grier was fired at the end of October. Yet, head coach Mike McDaniel and Tagovailoa remain in place.
However, after Tagovailoa's latest effort, which included yet another ugly interception on a poorly-placed ball, it now sounds like coach McDaniel is contemplating a change to his starting lineup.
On Tuesday, when McDaniel was asked whether he was considering a quarterback change yet, he surprisingly didn't throw his support behind Miami 's $212 million QB. He instead suggested that Tagovailoa may very well lose his starting job for the first time since arriving as the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
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"The QB play last night was not good enough," McDaniel said . "So everything is on the table."
Tagovailoa is under contract with Miami through the 2028 season, so benching him now would set up a ton of questions for the offseason ahead. Sitting with a $56.4 million cap hit in 2026, the Dolphins may be stuck with Tagovailoa for at least another season.
That is, unless they're willing to suffer $99 million in dead salary charges, which is far too expensive to take on. Plus, teams likely won't want to offer much via trade for a player who has looked more like a problem than a franchise solution as of late. As a result, Tagovailoa might not be going anywhere next year, but that doesn't mean he can't sit on the bench as the Dolphins evaluate other options anyway.
For now, those options are former No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson (who's still just 26) and seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers . The latter did see some game action earlier this season, when he completed 5-of-8 passes for 53 yards in Miami's 31-6 loss to the Browns in Week 7.
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Meanwhile, Wilson has also gotten on the field for the Dolphins this year. He's completed 6-of-9 passes for 32 yards, making an appearance in three different games thus far. Coach McDaniel stated that he hopes to make a decision on Monday.
Related: 2025 NFL QB Rankings: Where's Tua Tagovailoa?
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