Over the past two weeks, three accomplished veteran quarterbacks have been informed by their teams that they will be released when the new league year begins on Wednesday – Kirk Cousins (informed by the Falcons on Feb. 24, per reports) and Arizona’s Kyler Murray and the Raiders’ Geno Smith, who both were reportedly told this past week.
The Dolphins “probably” will release Tua Tagovailoa next Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported. But unlike the other QBs, Miami’s definitive plans with Tagovailoa had not been made public as of midday Saturday, and NFL Network’s Cam Wolfe said nothing will happen on that front this weekend.
As we reported weeks ago, Miami strongly prefers a trade over a release but is opposed to offering high-end draft sweeteners to entice any suitors. No trade obviously has materialized.
What’s pretty clear is that Tagovailoa’s expected release will come with a post-June 1 designation. That post June 1 designation means his Dolphins 2026 dead money cap hit would be $67.4 million, compared to $99.2 million if he’s cut without that designation and $56.2 million if he’s not cut at all.
A trade would lower his cap number to $45.2 million in a trade made before June 2, plus an additional cap hit equaling whatever the Dolphins agree to pay of his salary. (And the Dolphins assuredly would need to pay a chunk of his salary to have a chance of persuading any team to trade for him.)
But those efforts so far have been fruitless.
An official with one team told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that it would consider trading for Tagovailoa and his full salary only for a first-round pick, and the Dolphins assuredly are not doing that.
So what’s the upshot of releasing him next Wednesday (with a post-June 1 designation) as opposed to waiting until June 2? There’s one benefit for the team and one big benefit for Tagovailoa:
▪ For the Dolphins: If the Dolphins release Tagovailoa on Wednesday or Thursday, that would mean Miami would not be required to guarantee him $3 million of his 2027 salary, an amount that becomes guaranteed if he’s on the Dolphins next Friday.
If a player is cut with a post-June 1 designation, he immediately becomes a free agent and Miami would not be on the hook for that $3 million.
▪ For Tagovailoa: He would instantly get to hit the open market and sign with any team. Because he’s already due to make $54 million guaranteed from the Dolphins, he could sign a one-year, $1.3 million league minimum deal with the team of his choice, if he prefers. Because these contracts have offset language, that would leave Miami paying $52.7 million, as opposed to the $54 million.
What would be the reason for the Dolphins to keep Tagovailoa for weeks or months and agree to the $3 million guarantee in 2027?
That scenario would keep alive the possibility of a trade if another team is left without a quarterback after the draft and free agency and pivots to Tagovailoa.
Keeping him into August -- which would be unusual, but not unprecedented -- could present an opportunity for a trade if a team loses its starting quarterback to injury during training camp or preseason
Keeping Tagovailoa around for months would protect the Dolphins if they don’t land a veteran quarterback they like in free agency. It also could help the Dolphins if they’re running low on cap space to fill out a roster this summer; remember, if Tagovailoa is cut with a post-June 1 designation, Miami’s cap would be polluted with an additional $11 million.
To take this another step, keeping him on the roster all of next season would save that $11 million in cap space but likely wouldn’t be viable if he’s told that he will be on the team but never be in uniform. (It’s difficult to imagine a player accepting that.)
If the Dolphins kept Tagovailoa in 2026 and cut him next March, the 2027 Dolphins dead money cap hit would be $31.8 million before June 1 and $13.4 million if he’s cut with a post June 1 designation.
But if he were to play for the Dolphins next season, get injured and fail a physical in March 2027, then a substantial amount of his non-guaranteed $31 million salary for 2027 would become guaranteed.
The Dolphins gave some thought, weeks ago, to keeping Tagovailoa. Since then, NFL Net’s Ian Rapoport has said that his understanding is that Tagovailoa will not be on the team next season.
Smith interest?
The Dolphins are expected to explore signing Packers quarterback Malik Willis when teams can begin talking to free agents on Monday, with the understanding that Miami isn’t positioned or inclined to immerse itself in a bidding war.
But if it doesn’t get Willis, Miami wants to sign a veteran quarterback to compete with Quinn Ewers. And Smith, who is moving on from the Raiders, is “intrigued” by the idea of joining the Dolphins, ESPN’s Fowler reported Friday.
Smith, who was born in Miramar and attended Miramar High, threw 19 touchdowns and a league-leading 17 interceptions in his one season with the Raiders.
Jimmy Garoppolo (who holds some appeal to the Dolphins, per a source), Tyrod Taylor and Kirk Cousins headline a group of a dozen other relatively cheap veteran free agent options. Minnesota is the front-runner to sign Murray, NFL Network reported.
Tight end update
The Dolphins have interest in re-signing tight end Greg Dulcich, according to a source. He joined the Dolphins practice squad late last August, two days after being cut by the Giants, was promoted to Miami’s active roster on Oct. 22 and caught 26 passes for 335 yards and a touchdown in 10 games and three starts.
Dulcich said late in the season that he would love to return to Miami. But the Dolphins have very limited spending room.
The Dolphins don’t have an established veteran tight end under contract. Darren Waller will be a free agent and isn’t expected back. Julian Hill is a restricted free agent and the team must tender him at $3.5 million, by Wednesday, to keep him from becoming an unrestricted free agent.