MIAMI — Jon-Eric Sullivan described the Miami Dolphins as being in a “needy quarterback situation” when talking about the roster he inherited as the team’s new general manager.

While this admission made at the NFL combine surprises absolutely nobody, the description, and a subtle exclusion, does provide a hint of what’s to come this spring and summer.

“The quarterback room could go a lot of ways. We can have Quinn [Ewers]. We can have a free agent in there. We’re going to draft one. We can draft two. Who knows,” Sullivan said in a private conversation Tuesday that the Miami Herald participated in. “I honestly don’t have the answer.

“My job with the quarterback room, and every room, is to make it as competitive as possible.”

Oddly, or not, Sullivan excluded Tua Tagovailoa, the former 2020 first-round pick, who has led the Dolphins to a 44-32 record as a starter the past six years before being benched last December because of his turnover-prone play in 2025.

Even though the Dolphins owe Tagovailoa $54 million, which is the final portion of the guaranteed money due in the five-year, $235 million deal he signed before the 2024 season, it is universally understood that Miami’s moving on from the former Alabama standout.

The Dolphins’ preference is to trade Tagovailoa instead of releasing him. But that’s like saying my preference is to marry a supermodel.

I can certainly aspire to wed one, but lacking the funds, looks and physique needed to reel one in will make that goal challenging.

Tagovailoa, who is coming off his worst NFL season, a year opposing coaches openly admit his throws have lost the little velocity they had earlier in his career, has absolutely no market at this time for obvious reasons.

Exactly why would another franchise take on as much as $4 million of the $54 million Tagovailoa is owed by the Dolphins when the expectation is for Miami to eventually release him, and then whoever’s interested can simply pay him the NFL minimum because his contract has offsetting language. That means whatever Tagovailoa makes from another team the Dolphins no longer have to pay him.

So the only motivation another team would have to acquire Tagovailoa is if they viewed him as a clear upgrade as a possible starter, or the Dolphins enticed them by packing money, and possibly an early draft pick with Tagovailoa.

The Houston Texans sent the Cleveland Browns a second-round draft pick to unload Brock Osweiler’s bad contract a year after signing him to a four-year, $72 million deal. However, the way Sullivan and Hafley are talking, they will be treating every draft pick like it’s the ring from Lord of the Rings, protecting “their precious” assets.

Plus, the quarterback-needy teams like the Indianapolis Colts (will they re-sign an injured Daniel Jones), Arizona Cardinals (once they cut Kyler Murray), Pittsburgh Steelers (is Aaron Rodgers returning or retiring), Jets (can’t run it back with Justin Fields) and Minnesota Vikings (Brian Flores isn’t a Tagovailoa fan) will have cheaper options in players such as Murray, Geno Smith and Kirk Cousins.

Every NFL team realizes the Dolphins are stuck between a rock and a hard place with Tagovailoa, so why would another franchise help them out, taking on Tagovailoa’s contract and the potential dead money that eventually comes with it when they inevitably release him in 2026 or 2027.

And let’s not forget the $11.1 million in cap space the Dolphins will lose once Tagovailoa’s designated as a June 1 release, which Sullivan admitted is the only way Miami can cut him because of the team’s limited cap space, which will likely result in a quiet free agent signing period next month.

And by quiet, we’re talking about Miami only signing players who are being paid the minimum salary, or close to it, considering the Dolphins enter the upcoming free agent period with just $3 million in cap space, and limited options to create more spending room.

That means the Dolphins likely won’t be in what’s expected to be a high-stakes bidding war for Malik Willis’ services, attempting to employ the Packers backup who shined in his six starts before heading to free agency.

On Tuesday, Sullivan’s tone hinted that the Dolphins might be standing down on the expected courtship of Willis, whom some sites claim could land a multiyear deal that averages $20 million to $30 million a year.

The Dolphins don’t have that kind of spending power without getting creative with bookkeeping, which is exactly how South Florida’s NFL franchise got in this accounting mess in the first place.

So if Tagovailoa iss being shown the door, and Willis isn’t on the way in, how will Miami address the most important position in football, if not sports?

Sullivan consistently brings up Green Bay’s track record of drafting a quarterback every year, or every other year, referring to the Packers organization he has spent the past 22 years with.

For the record, the claim that Green Bay drafts a quarterback every year isn’t true. It’s not even every other year.

That’s an exaggeration of the truth considering Green Bay has selected eight quarterbacks in Sullivan’s 22 seasons with the Packers, and that just so happens to be the same amount the Dolphins drafted during the same timespan.

But Sullivan’s point is made considering Green Bay probably has the best history of developing its quarterbacks the past three decades.

The only difference is former Packers executive Ron Wolf and his disciples did a better job identifying talents such as Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love while the best quarterbacks Miami landed during that exact same stretch were Chad Henne, Ryan Tannehill and Tagovailoa.

So for Miami’s sake, let’s hope this famine has more to do with who picks the quarterbacks than it does the cities and franchises they play for.

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