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 on Wednesday.
The person spoke 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, $212.4 million extension in July 2024.
Ewers was 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 $167.2 million guaranteed.
A total of $54 million is guaranteed for 2026. The Dolphins would incur significant hits to the salary cap by releasing Tagovailoa. Releasing him next year would result in a $99 million dead cap charge. If the move is designated as a post-June 1 release, those charges are split over two years with $67.4 million allocated to the 2026 cap and $31.8 million in 2027.
The Denver Broncos took the NFL's all-time biggest cap hit of $85 million for releasing Russell Wilson in 2024.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Discover India with Us! Read moreIndia Community Travel: Virtual Information Session
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.