What do you think of QB Philip Rivers’ “redebut”?
Joe Rivera and Chris Bumbaka break down Philip Rivers’ performance against the Seahawks and discuss the outlook for the rest of the season.
Add quarterback to the list of areas of increasing uncertainty for the Miami Dolphins’ future.
Manager Mike McDaniel announced Wednesday that Tua Tagovailoa will start on the bench and will be replaced by rookie Quinn Ewers.
“I think Quinn gives this team the best chance to win,” McDaniel said.
Zach Wilson will serve as backup, and Tagovailoa will be the emergency third-stringer.
The move comes a day after McDaniel questioned Tagovailoa’s status, saying “everything is on the table” after “the quarterback play wasn’t good enough (Monday)” in a 28-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Tagovailoa has had a rocky sixth season in South Florida. He leads the NFL with a career-worst 15 interceptions. The southpaw signal-caller was benched in Week 7’s blowout loss to the Cleveland Browns, but McDaniel said that day, “I just wasn’t good enough.” He caused havoc last week by criticizing unspecified teammates who were late or absent entirely from player-only meetings. McDaniel reprimanded the quarterback, who later apologized for his remarks.
Ewers, a seventh-round rookie from Texas, replaced Tagovailoa in the loss to the Browns. He completed five of eight attempts for 53 yards in his NFL debut.
In the loss to the Steelers, Tagovailoa struggled in the first three quarters, but improved on his final three drives. He completed 22 of 28 passes for 253 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
Tagovailoa’s demotion is the latest shake-up for a franchise that has already gone through quite a bit of upheaval in the last year, and there could be more upheaval to come. General manager Chris Grier parted ways with the organization on Halloween, but McDaniel’s departure after the season remains unclear.
With the loss to the Steelers, the Dolphins were eliminated from the playoffs. The team’s postseason win drought dates back to the 2000 season and is the longest active streak for any team in the league.
McDaniel developed a fruitful partnership with Tagovailoa early in his coaching tenure with the Dolphins. His peak came in the 2023 season, when he led the NFL in total yards of offense and earned the quarterback his only Pro Bowl berth. But the following year, Tagovailoa missed six games due to a concussion and hip ailment.
Miami staged a late-season resurgence this year with four straight wins heading into the matchup against Pittsburgh, spearheaded by a rushing offense that averaged a league-high 192 yards per game during that span.
The Dolphins will host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in a rescheduled game from the original “Sunday Night Football” prime-time slot.
tua tagovailoa contract
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.1 million extension in 2024, making him the sixth-highest paid player in the NFL.
With $54 million guaranteed in 2026, Tagovailoa’s contract could be prohibitively expensive to part with if the Dolphins want to move on. If he were to be released after the season, his dead cap hit would be a record $99.2 million, but that number could span two seasons if he is drafted after June 1.
Dolphins QB depth chart
- quinn ewers
- zach wilson
- tua tagovailoa
(This story has been updated to add video and new information.)
