The Miami Dolphins have been busy turning over their roster early on this offseason. Easily the biggest move of the bunch was made official on Wednesday, though, as the team officially released quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, resulting in the team absorbing a historic $99.2 million cap hit.
Despite the massive cost that is associated with moving on from Tagovailoa, the writing was on the wall when he was benched late in the 2025 campaign in favor of seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers. Before the Dolphins actually released Tagovailoa, though, it turns out that they made a unique decision on his contract that will help the team stomach his massive dead cap hit.
Full Financial Breakdown of Tua Tagovailoa’s Release, Revealed
Ahead of the 2024 season, Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension with the Dolphins that included $167.17 million in guaranteed money. Considering how Tagovailoa was fresh off leading the league in passing yards in 2023, it seemed like a safe bet that he would be with Miami for the foreseeable future.
Over the past two seasons, though, Tagovailoa has looked like a shell of his former self on the field for the Dolphins. A slew of concussion issues likely didn’t help, but Tagovailoa was borderline unplayable in 2025, when he threw 15 interceptions in just 14 games of action. With a rebuild set to take place, holding onto Tagovailoa simply made no sense.
After being unable to find a trade partner for the left-handed passer, Miami opted to release him, incurring an $11 million hit to its salary cap in 2026. The bigger issue is the dead cap hit, which will limit the Dolphins to an extent for the next two seasons. However, the front office reportedly exercised Tagovailoa’s option bonus before releasing him, allowing it to spread his dead cap hit out more evenly over the 2026 and 2027 campaigns.
“Some news, per source: The Dolphins exercised Tua’s 2026 option bonus prior to his release,” Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported in a post on X. “So his dead cap charge on the Dolphins’ 2026 books will be $55.4 M (as opposed to $67 M). His dead cap charge will be $43.8 M in 2027. Gives Dolphins lot more flexibility beginning June 2.”
Tua Tagovailoa Quickly Finds New Home After Dolphins Release
GettyFormer Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa plans to sign with an NFC team
In a perfect world, Tagovailoa would still be with the Dolphins, but his poor play made it necessary for the team to move on from him. It didn’t take Tagovailoa very long to latch on with a new team, though, as he quickly signed with the Atlanta Falcons on a one-year, $1.215 million contract shortly after news of his impending release was reported.
As for Miami, it signed former Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million contract to come in and replace Tagovailoa. While Willis looked great during his time filling in for Jordan Love over the past two seasons, expectations for him should be tempered, given the state of the team’s roster. Rebuilding is a part of sports, but if all goes according to plan, the Dolphins will come out on the other side of this stronger than ever before.
Dolphins Get Final Financial Details on Tua Tagovailoa After Official Release