The Miami Dolphins were officially eliminated from playoff contention in Week 15, as their Monday Night Football loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers officially ended their season.
While things didn't go well this season, it's only going to get worse going forward. And while the Dolphins' struggles cannot be ascribed to one player, Tua Tagovailoa is a major issue the Dolphins will have to deal with going forward.
As ESPN's Ben Solak pointed out, the Dolphins have a Tagovailoa problem, and it's far from a simple one. Due to some contract costs, the Dolphins face a $99 million wall in trying to move on from their struggling QB this offseason.
Dolphins have $99 million Tua Tagovailoa headache
"There is still so much money tied to Tagovailoa's signing bonus ($42 million) and 2025 option bonus ($25 million)." Solak writes. "To cut Tagovailoa outright before the league year began would cost the Dolphins more than $99 million in dead cap, which would obviously never happen."
If the Dolphins don't play around with Tagovailoa's contract, they could be on the hook for $99 million in dead cap space, which would put Miami in a massive hole that would take years to get out of.
Tagovailoa's contract is bad enough as it already stands, and moving on from him in this manner would be disastrous. But, Solak outlines one potential plan for how the Dolphins could release Tagovailoa this offseason.
"With a post-June 1 designation and by picking up his 2026 option right before cutting him, the Dolphins could get Tagovailoa's dead cap hit in 2026 down to about $54 million." Solak writes. "That's functionally the same as Tagovailoa's cap hit ($56 million) if he remains on the roster."
No matter how it's sliced, this is a brutal problem for the Dolphins to have. But if they want to cut ties with Tagovailoa, following Solak's solution makes the most sense.
More: Tua Tagovailoa's contract looks like a nightmare for the Dolphins
This would spread out the cap hits and give the Dolphins some relief yearly. It still will be a massive cap hit and restrict the Dolphins' free agent and offseason moves, but it would at least begin the process of moving on from Tagovailoa.
Moving on from Tagovailoa is a must for the Dolphins in the coming years, but if they want to do so this upcoming offseason, the Dolphins will need to get creative and follow Solak's solution.
But the $99 million problem is still looming large and is a major hurdle and issue for any new general manager to deal with. The Week 15 loss to the Steelers only confirmed the Dolphins needed to move on from Tagovailoa soon.
The only question is how the Dolphins will do so. A release is possible, but with how much money is tied up in him at the moment, Miami might be forced to let Tagovailoa ride the bench as the most expensive backup QB in NFL history.
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