Tua Tagovailoa could be the NFL's next quarterback reclamation project

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Tua Tagovailoa could be the NFL's next quarterback reclamation project

2025-12-19 19:00 Last Updated At：19:20

Tua Tagovailoa could be the NFL’s next quarterback reclamation project.

Now that he’s been benched by the Dolphins, Tagovailoa’s future in Miami is uncertain. The Dolphins (6-8) will take a look at rookie seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers over the final three games. They haven’t won a playoff game since January 2001, the longest drought in the NFL.

The 27-year-old Tagovailoa hasn’t lived up to the $212.4 million, four-year contract extension he signed after leading the NFL with 4,624 yards passing in 2023 and guiding the Dolphins to 11 wins and a playoff berth.

Trading Tagovailoa will be difficult because of his contract. He’s due $54 million guaranteed next season. If the Dolphins somehow found a trade partner before March 13, they would incur a dead cap hit of $45.2 million. A trade after March 13 would result in a $60.2 million dead cap charge.

Releasing Tagovailoa before that date means the Dolphins would owe him $54 million in 2026 and would absorb $99.2 million in dead salary cap charges. That would be the largest in NFL history. Denver took an $85 million cap hit after releasing Russell Wilson in 2024 and spread the charges over two seasons.

Releasing Tagovailoa with a post-June 1 designation would allow the Dolphins to spread those cap hits over two seasons with $67.4 million allocated to the 2026 cap and the remaining $31.8 million in 2027.

A release would seem to be the most likely outcome. The Broncos overcame that cap hit from Wilson’s release, made the playoffs last season and currently have the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

The Dolphins could get creative by adding draft picks to entice a team to make a trade. That would require finding a team that has cap space to take on Tagovailoa’s large contract.

Of course, Miami could choose to keep Tagovailoa as a backup like Atlanta did with Kirk Cousins this season.

The expectation is Tagovailoa will be wearing a new uniform next year.

He’s only 27 years old, has made a Pro Bowl and posted a passer rating above 100 in each of his three previous seasons before tossing a league-leading 15 interceptions this season.

Tagovailoa also has a history of concussions so that could be a deterrent.

Several quarterbacks who were first-round picks have revived their careers after getting a fresh start with a new team. The list includes Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff and Sam Darnold.

Here are five potential landing spots for Tagovailoa in 2026:

They’ve never defeated Tagovailoa, going 0-7 against Miami when he starts. The Jets need a franchise quarterback and will likely draft one in the first round. But Tagovailoa could be an inexpensive bridge quarterback with low risk, high reward potential. If he’s released, the Jets could sign him for the veteran minimum while the Dolphins pay him $50 million-plus to go away.

They’re in the same position as the Jets but also have two rookie quarterbacks they’ve tried out this season. Third-round pick Dillon Gabriel was 1-5 in six starts. Fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders is 1-3 going into his fifth start this week.

They need a franchise quarterback and have been a franchise that isn’t afraid to take risks. Tagovailoa plays better in a warmer climate so that’s a fit. The Raiders will also likely draft a quarterback in the first round.

They took a chance on Wilson last year and have Aaron Rodgers this season. He’s 42 and could retire. Even if he returns for a season, the Steelers need a quarterback for the future. Tagovailoa could learn plenty from watching Rodgers for a season.

Kyler Murray’s contract will be tough to trade unless maybe they swap him for Tagovailoa. Murray will be entering the third season of a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension, averaging $46.1 million per year. He’s due $36.8 million guaranteed next year.

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Putin tells his annual news conference that the Kremlin's military goals will be achieved in Ukraine

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized Friday that Moscow’s troops were advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine and voiced confidence that the Kremlin would achieve its goals militarily if Kyiv fails to agree to Russia's conditions in peace talks.

Speaking at his tightly orchestrated annual news conference, Putin declared that Russian forces have “fully seized strategic initiative” and would make more gains by the year's end.

In the early days of the conflict in 2022, Ukraine's forces managed to thwart an attempt by Russia’s larger, better-equipped army, to capture the capital of Kyiv. But the fighting soon settled into grinding battles, and Moscow's troops have made slow but steady progress over the years. Putin frequently touts this progress — even though it is not the lightning advance many expected.

“Our troops are advancing all across the line of contact, faster in some areas or slower in some others, but the enemy is retreating in all sectors,” Putin said at the live news conference, which is combined with a nationwide call-in show that offers Russians across the country the opportunity to ask questions of their leader.

Putin, who has ruled the country for 25 years, has used the event to cement his power and air his views on domestic and global affairs.

This year, observers are watching particularly for Putin’s remarks on Ukraine and the peace plan put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump. Despite an extensive diplomatic push, Washington's efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

While the event often focuses heavily on domestic questions, Ukraine has dominated so far this year. Since the event is highly choreographed, that could reflect the Kremlin’s desire to assuage the public after nearly four years of fighting.

Putin reaffirmed that Moscow was ready for a peaceful settlement that would address the “root causes” of the conflict, a reference to the Kremlin’s tough conditions for a deal.

Earlier this week, Putin warned that Moscow would seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands.

The Russian leader wants all the areas in four key regions captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory. He has also insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces haven’t captured yet. Kyiv has publicly rejected all these demands.

The Kremlin has also insisted that Ukraine abandon its bid to join the Western NATO military alliance and warned that it wouldn't accept the deployment of any troops from NATO members and would view them as “legitimate target.”

Putin also has repeatedly said that Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language — demands he has made from the onset of the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to drop Ukraine’s bid to join NATO if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to alliance members. But at the same time, he has emphasized that Ukraine’s preference remains NATO membership as the best security guarantee.

″The United States don’t see us in NATO, for now," Zelenskyy said this week. “Politicians change.”

As it faces grinding Russian advances across the front line and relentless attacks on its energy facilities, Ukraine is in on the verge of bankruptcy — and it desperately needs more cash from its Western allies.

On Friday, European Union leaders agreed to provide a massive interest-free loan, but they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds.

The leaders worked deep into night to reassure Belgium, where most of the frozen assets are held, that they would protect it from any retaliation from Moscow if it backed the plan, but as the talks bogged down the leaders eventually opted to borrow the money on capital markets.

Putin commented that using the Russian assets to help Kyiv would have amounted to “robbery,” adding that the move would have spooked investors, “dealing not only an image blow but undermining confidence in the eurozone.”

Putin told the audience that the flow of volunteer soldiers has remained strong, topping 400,000 this year. It was not possible to verify that claim since recruitment effort isn't open to independent scrutiny.

But the government offers relatively high pay and extensive benefits to volunteer soldiers that have helped swell their ranks. The Kremlin says that it exclusively relies on volunteers to fight in Ukraine, but some media reports and rights groups have said that military officers often coerce conscripts into signing military contracts.

Asked by a soldier’s widow about the slowness in paying out a pension, Putin apologized and vowed that the issue would be quickly solved — an exchange typical of the annual event, which the Russian leader often uses to show his command of a wide array of subjects and his ability to solve problems.