MIAMI — Tua Tagovailoa is neither a villain, nor a victim in this impending, expected breakup with the Miami Dolphins.

Therefore, Tagovailoa’s not deserving of hatred, or pity for what’s to come, which supposedly hasn’t been decided according to a chat the new regime had with season-ticket holders Thursday night.

“Tua has been a really good player in this league. He’s done some really good things for the Miami Dolphins. You guys should be proud to have him,” new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan told the audience of fans.

He’s seemingly referring to Tagovailoa’s 44-32 record as Miami’s starting quarterback for the past six seasons, a tenure which produced a 96.4 passer rating, two postseason appearances (no wins) and 2023 Pro Bowl election.

Tagovailoa’s 68% completion percentage for his career ranks him second all time in NFL history, behind only Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow (68.5). Problem is, the soon-to-be 28-year-old has struggled physically for most of his career.

Tagovailoa got benched last year because of his inconsistent performance and lack of velocity on his throws. Most of South Florida’s fan base and media no longer believe in his upside as a franchise quarterback.

“I don’t know what the future holds right now, and I told Tua that,” Sullivan said after sharing they had a conversation in his office this week. “We’re working through some things. What I can tell you is we’re going to infuse some competition into that room, whether Tua is part of that room, or isn’t part of that room.

“Tua knows where we are. We’ve been very honest and upfront. And Tua also knows that he will be the first to know when we make a decision,” Sullivan continued. “We’ll let Tua know whether he’ll be part of this, or not.”

But it is clear the Dolphins are leaning toward moving on.

According to a league source with intimate knowledge, team owner Steve Ross lost faith and confidence in Tagovailoa before his benching.

The exact game — a fourth-quarter 31-21 collapse on the road against the Buffalo Bills, an embarrassing 31-6 loss on the road against the Cleveland Browns, or the disastrous nationally televised 30-13 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens — is unclear. But Ross hasn’t hidden his desire to move on.

Ross didn’t demand Tagovailoa’s benching after the 28-15 nationally televised road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but his line of questions to then-coach Mike McDaniel after the game seemingly made his desires clear.

It was time for the Dolphins to move on from Tagovailoa, and the Dolphins did, starting rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers, who spent all but one week before his first start on Dec. 21 as the team’s No. 3 quarterback.

Keep in mind Ross and the Dolphins decision-makers coveted Tagovailoa in the 2020 NFL draft. He was used as a factor in Brian Flores’ dismissal in 2022 and the hiring of McDaniel, who sold Ross on the belief that he could polish Tagovailoa’s game, which he did, helping the former Alabama standout produce three straight 100-rated seasons.

Ross’ newfound apathy toward Tagovailoa explains why the general manager and head coach he recently hired have acted as if Tagovailoa’s a hot potato, quickly dodging all questions about Tagovailoa’s future and the challenges of moving on.

Miami’s new decision-makers flat out admit there’s no certainty Tagovailoa will be part of the organization moving forward, and the only thing that will likely change that could be a series of swings and misses in free agency and the NFL draft.

The problem with this approach is that Tagovailoa is a power player in this dynamic.

For those thinking Tagovailoa, and his camp, will just sit quietly awaiting a decision from the Dolphins, and hope the Dolphins do right by him, you’re sadly mistaken.

That’s not how business gets done in the NFL, especially at quarterback.

The $54 million the Dolphins owe Tagovailoa, which is a non-negotiable figure that’s fully guaranteed in 2026 based on the contract extension he signed before the 2024 season, gives the quarterback a ton of leverage.

Miami’s options are limited for a variety of reasons, and they all involve money.

The Dolphins can release Tagovailoa in March when the new league year start, and swallow all of his $99.2 million cap hit in one season, which would deplete the team’s cap space in 2026 by a little less than $43 million.

The Denver Broncos took this approach when cutting Russell Wilson in 2024, but what prevented that approach from becoming catastrophic is the fact Broncos head coach Sean Payton is a master at identifying and developing quarterbacks such as Bo Nix, who led the Broncos to the AFC Championship Game in his second season.

Miami can release Tagovailoa as one of the team’s two post-June 1 cuts, and split his cap hit up over a two-year period. Taking that approach would deplete Miami’s cap space by $11.1 million in 2026.

The Dolphins can carry Tagovailoa on the roster and allow him to compete for the starting spot this spring and summer, and playing time. Miami doesn’t lose any cap space taking this approach.

However, that approach might convince possible free agent targets (say Green’s Bay’s Malik Willis) to look elsewhere, unless the money Miami’s offering is obscene, and far exceeds another franchise.

The Dolphins could carry Tagovailoa on the roster, but place him on injured reserve for the season. This would allow them to shoulder the financial load of the contract for one year, but not have him in the quarterback mix, and then release him as a June 1 cut in 2027 to create $40 million in cap space.

Miami’s top option is likely to find a trade partner willing to acquire Tagovailoa and his contract. But the Dolphins will likely have to shoulder some of the financial responsibility, and might be asked to send assets to an interested team (draft picks or players) to sweeten any deal like the Houston Texans had to do to unload Brock Osweiler and his bloated contact in 2017.

In this scenario, Tagovailoa and his camp get involved because they would need to approach adjustments made to his contract.

The challenging part of this route is Miami would have to find a team willing to take Tagovailoa and a large portion of the $54 million he’s owed next season.

Sullivan reiterated that he plans to explore selecting a quarterback in the 2026 draft, and “every draft thereafter,” which is an approach that has long been a staple in the Green Bay Packers organization, going back to the Ron Wolf days.

That philosophy is a core staple of what the Packers, and anyone on Wolf’s tree, have done when it comes to roster building because quarterback development is critical to a franchise’s long-term success.

The problem with that approach is quarterback happens to be the weakest position from a depth and talent standpoint in this draft class.

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