The Miami Dolphins made the decision to move on from former #5 overall pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft — quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — this offseason, cutting him in favor of signing former Green Bay Packers backup Malik Willis.
After once being seen as the potential savior of the organization, Tagovailoa’s release signaled the end of a failed tenure that saw the quarterback ultimately benched in favor of 7th round rookie Quinn Ewers towards the end of the 2025 season.
On Tuesday, Tagovailoa
joined SiriusXM NFL Radio and spoke about how difficult it was to end his time in Miami on such a sour note.
“It’s hard, you know. There’s no other way to work around that. You can try to trick yourself into thinking it’s not as hard as what you’re thinking. But it’s hard to go through something like that.”
Throughout the process, the young quarterback looked to a former Dolphins’ head coach for advice — his former head coach at Alabama, Nick Saban.
“One thing that I ended up taking from Coach Saban that stuck with me as I was going through that process, being benched last year, not being able to finish out the season with the guys, and then obviously being released by the Dolphins and then being a free agent was, ‘Things don’t happen to you. They happen for you.’ And that kind of stuck with me.”
Miami’s former signal-caller was ultimately signed by the Atlanta Falcons and now Tagovailoa finds himself in a battle for the starting quarterback position with another former first round selection, Michael Penix Jr.
In South Florida, the Dolphins have pinned their hopes on Malik Willis, and through one preseason contest, his performance has been promising. Last Friday, Willis completed 4 of 5 throws for 43 yards while leading Miami to an opening drive touchdown against the Washington Commanders. He added 9 rushing yards on two carries and finished the game with a quarterback rating of 102.5.
