Pro Football Rumors
Mike McDaniel is far from assured of a fifth season as Dolphins HC, but he has reestablished some momentum since a rough start. However, the Dolphins taking a one-sided loss in Pittsburgh all but crushed any hopes of a playoff berth.
The McDaniel storyline moves back to center stage, and the player he is most closely tied to once again did not play well in cold weather. Tua Tagovailoa‘s dud in Pittsburgh has left the Dolphins 6-8, and both his and McDaniel’s futures are up in the air. For now, McDaniel did not guarantee Tagovailoa would keep his job to close the season.
McDaniel called the team’s quarterback play “not good enough” (via NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe) Monday night. The fourth-year HC said everything was on the table regarding a QB move, with a decision coming Wednesday. The Dolphins’ staff is believed to have considered such a move previously, per veteran insider Jordan Schultz.
Tagovailoa and McDaniel have been joined at the hip since the HC’s 2022 hire. The former 49ers OC revitalized the ex-Alabama star, with Tua leading the NFL in key passing categories each year from 2022-24 after a sluggish start to his career. The southpaw passer’s resurgence led to the Dolphins giving him a four-year, $212.4MM extension in July 2024. That contract complicates the futures of both Tagovailoa and McDaniel, as it will be quite difficult for the Dolphins to move that deal in a 2026 trade due to the guarantees remaining on it.
Tagovailoa is owed $54MM guaranteed for 2026 and does not carry the best reputation around the league. Both these factors limit his trade value, and an inconsistent 2025 obviously brings concern about Miami’s ability to compete for a Super Bowl with Tua at the controls. For McDaniel to make his consideration of Tua public potentially points to the current Dolphins leader having enough support in the building — regarding a fifth year in charge — though he did not answer a question pertaining to this potential demotion pertaining to his 2026 status, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson.
More to come.
