The Miami Dolphins are coming to a harsh reality: they made a mistake in giving Tua Tagovailoa the lucrative extension they did. He’s battled health issues and has been wildly inconsistent over the last couple of seasons. Mike McDaniel taking over the team was supposed to pair Tagovailoa with a coach that was perfect for his play style.
Instead it’s brought frustration and that’s lingered over into a 2025 season that was supposed to be optimistic. Tagovailoa took offense to a comment from a reporter about his turnovers in-game coming over in bunches. His reaction is proof the Dolphins need to accept they probably should be looking at his replacement.
“I thought that was a wild comment, that I turn the ball over in bunches. That’s crazy,” Tagovailoa said after the game.
Tua Tagovailoa’s turnovers prove he’s becoming a liability in Miami amid urgency
Tagovailoa has every right to be offended by the comment, but it’s not an outlandish one. If you look at the games where he threw an interception going back to the 2023 season, seven times he had at least two interceptions thrown, including Sunday’s season opening loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
I get why he feels that was a bit of an exaggeration because he doesn’t have a lot of games with turnovers, simply a lot of turnovers in games he does turn the ball over. Since 2023, he had 13 games with at least one interception. In 2024, he had just three games with interceptions thrown, but two of them he had three interceptions in each.
More than 50 percent of the time since 2023 when Tagovailoa has thrown an interception, it has been multiple picks. That’s not an overexaggeration, just facts and one that Tagovailoa has to accept, and one Miami has to deal with.
How should Miami handle frustrating Week 1 loss behind a horrible outing from Tua Tagovailoa?
Tyreek Hill went viral in Sunday’s game for not hiding his frustration with the offense’s struggles and though he’s not good at hiding his frustrations, the Miami front office certainly is. They can’t be happy with yet another miserable performance from their franchise quarterback. It’s time to have a serious conversation about Tagovailoa and his future with Miami.
Miami doesn’t have a lot of options right now, but they have to start thinking about how to trade him this offseason. They need to move on from Tagovailoa before he costs McDaniel his job. Tagovailoa has been to the playoffs just once since getting drafted in 2020 and hasn’t won a playoff game yet.
On top of that, the team hasn’t looked in sync with him at the helm, which is why Hill has had tantrums in each of the last two seasons. You can’t blame him, right? After all, he bullied his way out of Kansas City to be with an offense that was more high-paced. At first, it looked like a great move to Miami and then reality set in for Tagovailoa. He’s not as good as Miami would have hoped and maybe their best option is to part ways with him before things go from bad to worse.
Mike McDaniel may be forced to turn to Zach Wilson, Quinn Ewers before season’s end
Welp, I guess taking Quinn Ewers in the seventh round wasn’t a bad option after all because Tagovailoa is inching his way to the bench. With it, he’s opening up the door for the Dolphins to experiment with Zach Wilson and Ewers as the backup options. Wilson beat out Ewers in the preseason for QB2, but at this rate, giving them both a shot isn’t a bad idea.
The Dolphins have no reason to be patient with Tagovailoa at this point in his career. He’s had enough opportunity and chances to prove he deserves to stick around and this year, he’s proving Miami is out of excuses for him.
Wilson has been waiting for his chance to start again in the NFL after the New York Jets gave up on him. That chance is on the verge of opening up this year. If Tagovailoa continues to struggle and not get this offense in rhythm, the Dolphins have no choice but to make a change. Whether that’s Wilson or Ewers in the interim, it doesn’t matter. Tagovailoa is playing his way out of a starting job, and his reaction after the loss is proof of that.