BENCHED 

BY MIKE RIFKIN

The Miami Dolphins have announced that they are benching Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and will start rookie seventh round pick Quinn Ewers Sunday against the Bengals. In his press conference on Tuesday head coach Mike McDaniel said “everything was on the table” when talking about this subject. 

It’s been a tough year in Miami for Tagovailoa. The former fifth overall pick leads the NFL with 15 interceptions. In Monday’s loss against the Steelers Tagovailoa was 22-28 for 253 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Don’t be fooled by the statline though most of those numbers came with the game out of reach. Even during Miami’s recent four game winning streak, they weren’t winning because of quarterback play.

What really makes this decision interesting is the money aspect. Now the job belongs to Ewers. Tagovailoa is guaranteed 54 million dollars in 2026. If the Dolphins cut Tagovailoa it will be costly, they’ll have to post it after June first cut and the dead cap will be a record of 99.2 million dollars. The Dolphins could spread that out as 67.4 million in 2026 and 31.8 million in 2027, it’s similar to what the Broncos did with Russell Wilson. Now if they trade Tagovailoa before June first it’d be 45.2 million in dead cap. They could also pay down the contract in order to make a trade. 

The Dolphins are already in the market for a new GM after firing Chris Grier and now with Tua being benched, we’ll have to see what the future holds for Mike McDaniel. Now is actually the perfect time for this if you’re the Dolphins, because of the state of the AFC East. The Bills are still the standard bearer and the Patriots retooled quicker than anyone thought. The Jets are still in rebuild mode, but have a lot of draft capital, so for the Dolphins we’ll have to see what’s next? But Quinn Ewers will get starts against the Bengals, Bucs, and Patriots to prove himself.