The Miami Dolphins are still holding out hope that a trade can happen with Tua Tagovailoa.
Addressing the media at the NFL scouting combine Tuesday, new Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said the team is exploring all possibilities involving Tagovailoa, who was benched late last season. He acknowledged a trade is possible.
“We’ve had conversations with Tua and his representation. Everything is on the table, including the potential of a trade,” Sullivan said at the podium via David Furones of the Sun Sentinel. “We don’t know which way that’s going to go. There’s a lot of different factors in play, a lot of conversations being had.”
Cutting Tagovailoa seems likely, unless the Dolphins do find a trade partner. Sullivan told a smaller group of South Florida reporters earlier Tuesday that taking on the entire $99 million dead cap hit as a pre-June 1 move was unlikely. Even if the team spreads it out over two seasons, it’s still a lot to take on.
Sullivan acknowledged the Dolphins’ cap situation is bad and that a priority is getting that back in order. That could preclude the team from making any substantial move at quarterback this offseason. But Sullivan came from the Packers, as did new head coach Jeff Hafley, and that will lead to speculation over free agent quarterback Malik Willis, who played well as Jordan Love’s backup in Green Bay.
“Any team that is potentially in a needy quarterback situation, if they tell you they’re not talking about Malik Willis that would be a lie,” Sullivan said via Dave Schroeder of WBAY. “But we’ve talked about a lot of people, a lot of free agents. Malik is just one of them. We have no idea how that will look like in our room. Will it be multiple draft picks? Will it be a free agent along with Quinn [Ewers]? Who knows?”
Perhaps that’s a reason Sullivan talked up Ewers, a 2025 seventh-round pick who started three games late in the season.
“Evaluating the roster, Quinn did a nice job at the end of the year,” Sullivan said. “Excited about what’s ahead for him.”