The Miami Dolphins' playoff hopes are dead after a 28-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. In his press conference on Tuesday, head coach Mike McDaniel was asked if he would explore starting Zach Wilson or Quinn Ewers in the final three games of the season.
"Everything is on the table," McDaniel said.
It's become evident that Tua Tagovailoa's days as the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins are numbered. With that in mind, what teams would make sense as trade partners? There are a handful of squads that Miami could call and potentially work out a deal.
New York Jets
Trades within the same division involving quarterbacks aren't completely unheard of. The Philadelphia Eagles traded Donovan McNabb to the then-Washington Redskins in 2010, and that was after McNabb was a Pro Bowler in 2009 and went to six Pro Bowls with the Eagles overall.
Tagovailoa hasn't done anything close to that with Miami, so there likely won't be any fear in trading him within the AFC East. While there is a clear ceiling on Tua, perhaps Tanner Engstrand can do his best to Jared Goff-ify the Alabama product. For all of Tua's shortcomings, he is good when it comes to timing plays and getting passes into short and intermediate windows. That's what the Lions made a living off of doing with Goff. That's not to knock Goff, but he is another guy who has a ceiling on his abilities. Tua to the Jets, at minimum, would be better than what we've seen with Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor, and Brady Cook.
Minnesota Vikings
J.J. McCarthy has put together consecutive good performances, so perhaps the Vikings quarterback radar is a bit more quiet than it was a month ago. However, if McCarthy struggles and looks inconsistent through the next three weeks, maybe they'd entertain a trade for Tua. In a Kevin O'Connell system that values pre-snap motion and doing everything possible to make things easy on the quarterback, Tua could be the next graduate of the KOC Quarterback School.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts traded away their next two first-round picks in exchange for cornerback Sauce Gardner, and then saw Daniel Jones go down with an Achilles injury. It's important to remember that Jones is only on a one-year deal. With that in mind, we saw what Shane Steichen was able to do with Daniel Jones. Could he work similar miracles with Tua? Maybe.
Arizona Cardinals
It's pretty clear that Kyler Murray has played his final snap for the Cardinals. I wouldn't be completely surprised if we saw a quarterback-for-quarterback trade involving Murray and Tua. Both franchises are likely to have new head coaches in 2026, and both quarterbacks could use fresh starts.
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