INDIANAPOLIS -- The Miami Dolphins continue to sort through the possible scenarios with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's future.
Speaking Tuesday from the NFL Scouting Combine, new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan addressed Tua's tenuous situation.
"We've had conversations with Tua and his representation," the GM said. "Everything's on the table, including the potential of a trade. We don't know which way that's going to go. There's a lot of different factors at play, a lot of conversations being had… Tua, I thought, even though things didn't go well at the end of the year, did some good things along the way. And it's my job to infuse competition into that room along with every other room as we go down the road."
Reading between the lines, the Dolphins are still holding out hope a team might swoop in to trade for Tagovailoa, but eventually Miami might be forced to bite the bullet and release the QB, taking on roughly $99 million in dead money -- potentially split over two years with a post-June 1 designation.
The quarterback's future in Miami appeared to be settled when he was benched by the previous staff. The new brass has done little to change the assumption that the club will move on from the former first-round pick.
"I think Tua had some bright moments," Sullivan said. "I think Tua, if he was standing here today, would tell you there were some moments he wishes he had back, some decisions he had back. Tua accomplished a lot or has accomplished a lot of really good things in his time in Miami. I think people that are Miami Dolphins fans should be proud to have had him here, and we'll see where it goes. I think Tua believes that he can still be a high-level quarterback in this league. I think that's what his desire is to do, you know, where that happens remains to be seen, whether that's here or elsewhere."
The big question is how the Dolphins can move on from Tagovailoa while still building a competitive roster in Year 1 under Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley.
"Obviously, it's no secret that we're in a bit of a strain salary-cap wise," Sullivan said. "I think you can always do what you want to do within the salary cap. That means you have to kick things down the road. We're in a position, without speaking specifically, I think we're in a position where we need to get back into a healthy state within our salary cap. So yeah, I mean, I think anytime you look around the league, there are teams that kick the can down the road every week. So can you? Yes. Will we? I'm not here to say that."
One dot-connecting with the new Miami brass coming from Green Bay is free-agent QB Malik Willis, the most enticing signal-caller hitting the open market. Given the payday Willis could be in line for, he could price himself out of the cap-strapped Dolphins' market.
Sullivan glowed about the strides the 26-year-old has made during his two years in Green Bay.
"Very happy for Malik on a personal level, the situation that he's put himself in," the GM said. "Malik's a very, very good kid. It's a testament to him and how he played and the opportunities that he got. As it pertains to the Miami Dolphins, listen, I think I'd be lying to you -- any team that is potentially in a quarterback situation, a needy quarterback situation, if they tell you they're not talking about Malik Willis, that would be a lie. But we've talked about a lot of people, a lot of free agents. Malik's just one of them."
Quinn Ewers finished the season as the Dolphins' starter and sits as the best option currently on the roster with Tagovailoa's imminent departure.
"We have no idea what that's going to look like in our room," Sullivan said. "Is it going to be multiple draft picks? Is it going to be a free agent along with Quinn? Who knows? We have so many factors at play. We've got a lot of decisions to make as we move through the next couple of weeks."
The key moving forward is to stockpile the room for the future, regardless of who the Dolphins bring in this year in free agency or the draft, just as the Packers did when Sullivan was with the organization.
"I think back [to Green Bay] when Aaron (Rodgers) was our starter in 2008, but he was a young quarterback," Sullivan said. "He was not Aaron Rodgers yet when we drafted Brian Brohm in the second round and Matt Flynn in the seventh. I mean, if you just look at the history of what Ron (Wolf) did and who Brett Favre's backups were with (Matt) Hasselbeck and Aaron Brooks and Ty Detmer and go on and on, Kurt Warner, I don't think you can ever have too many quarterbacks. I think that the value of the position cannot be overstated. So I think that you have to infuse as much competition into that room every year that you possibly can, but I think it depends on where you are as a team as to when you do that value-wise within the draft."
Before Sullivan shapes his QB room for 2026, he'll have to eventually make a decision on Tagovailoa's future.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: NFL Network and NFL+ will have live coverage of the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine beginning Feb. 26.
