There appears to be a market for Tua Tagovailoa.
With the Miami Dolphins expected to move on from their $212 million quarterback this offseason, the 28-year-old Tagovailoa is being linked to two NFC teams.
An unnamed NFL coach recently relayed to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, “Watch out for Tua in Atlanta,” as the Falcons are poised to shake up their QB room with the expected release of $100 million backup Kirk Cousins.
Fowler also noted that Tagovailoa is on the radar of the Minnesota Vikings following an uneven season with J.J. McCarthy at the helm.
Surely the Dolphins would prefer to trade Tagovailoa in hopes an interested suitor would take on the former first-round pick’s gargantuan contract.
Tagovailoa signed the four-year extension ahead of the 2024 season and is slated to be a $56.2 million cap hit for 2026, according to Spotrac.
The former Crimson Tide quarterback is coming off a disappointing 2025, in which he was benched late in the year for rookie Quinn Ewers.
New Dolphins coach GM Jon-Eric Sullivan said last Tuesday at the NFL combine that “everything is on the table, including the potential of a trade,” when speaking on Tagovailoa’s future.
Should Miami fail to find a trade partner and opt to cut Tagovailoa, he would leave a staggering dead cap charge of $99.2 million.
There will be a market for stopgap quarterbacks, and the Vikings and Falcons are among the squads that could utilize a veteran’s services.
The Vikings appear motivated to bring in legitimate competition to push McCarthy, who threw 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions across 10 appearances in his first season as the starting QB.
There’s also said to be “mutual interest” between the Vikings and Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, who has been granted permission to seek a trade.
The Falcons could also emerge as a landing spot, with Cousins all but out the door and starter Michael Penix Jr. recovering from a torn ACL.
Penix, the Falcons’ first-round pick in 2024, completed 60.1 percent of his passes before going down with an injury later in the year.
NFL free agency begins March 11.
