Tua Tagovailoa 'would be good with' fresh start elsewhere after Dolphins benching

The Miami Dolphins quarterback sat the final three games of the 2025 season

The Miami Dolphins sparked uncertainty with their quarterback situation when they benched Tua Tagovailoa for Quinn Ewers for the final three weeks of the 2025 NFL season. With his future in question, Tagovailoa said at the end of the year that he would welcome a fresh start with a new team.

Reporters approached Tagovailoa at his locker Monday, and the veteran quarterback said that he "would be good with" a new opportunity elsewhere. The reporters made sure that he understood the question was about a fresh start with a team other than the Dolphins, according to the Miami Herald,. Tagovailoa said he understood but declined to comment further.

"That would be dope," Tagovailoa said of the potential to start 2026 anew.

Tagovailoa ceded the starting job in Week 16 after he set a new career highs in interceptions (15) and sacks (30) and posted the lowest QBR of his six-year run in Miami. Although he helped spark a late-season turnaround in which the Dolphins won four consecutive games, he went just 6-8 as the starter and turned in his first losing record.

The low points for Tagovailoa were abnormally dramatic. His season reached an impasse in October when he threw three interceptions in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers and tossed three more the following week in a 31-6 drubbing at the hands of the Cleveland Browns.

Miami has seen Tagovailoa at his best, though, and could reinsert him into the lineup in 2026 if it feels he is capable of returning to elite form. The former No. 5 overall pick led the NFL in completion percentage in 2024 and was the league's passing leader in 2023. He also paced the NFL in yards per attempt in 2022. All of that is to say Tagovailoa is not far removed from performing like one of the top quarterbacks in the league.

Moving on from Tagovailoa entirely would come with its challenges. The Dolphins inked their franchise quarterback to a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension in July 2024 and guaranteed him $167 million. He is under contract through 2028 and carries a $56.4 million cap hit in 2026. Releasing Tagovailoa is likely off the table, so the Dolphins would need to find a trade partner willing to take on his sizable salary.

This could be a pivotal offseason for the Dolphins, who are already expected to move on from wide receiver Tyreek Hill after he sustained a serious knee injury early 2025. Parting ways with both Hill and Tagovailoa would end an era that featured some of the most prolific passing offenses in the NFL over the last handful of years.