The Miami Dolphins struggled mightily in the 2024 season when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was out of the lineup, but that doesn’t mean that the team will use the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft to address the issue.
“Miami owns the No. 13 overall pick in this year’s draft, but it’s unlikely it spends that pick on a quarterback, one season after signing Tagovailoa to a four-year extension — especially with a weak 2025 class at the position,” ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques wrote.
Tagovailoa missed six of the Dolphins’ 17 games in the 2024 season, and Miami went just 2-4 in those matchups with Tyler Huntley, Skylar Thompson and Tim Boyle all seeing snaps at quarterback.
Huntley was the most effective of the group, but even he couldn’t lead the Dolphins to enough wins to make the playoffs – or finish over .500 – in the 2024 regular season.
Tagovailoa has been a Pro Bowl-level quarterback when healthy, but he’s played in 13 or fewer games in all but one of his five NFL seasons.
The Dolphins have thrived when the former first-round pick has been under center, going 38-24 in his starts, including an impressive 25-16 in Tagovailoa’s 41 starts since Mike McDaniel was named the Dolphins’ head coach.
However, Miami needs to have a better backup plan at the quarterback position given Tagovailoa’s injury history. While the Dolphins may not consider taking a quarterback in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, they could look to address the position later in the draft or in free agency.
Tagovailoa is under contract with the Dolphins through the 2028 season after signing a four-year, $212.4 million extension with the franchise. While Tagovailoa certainly gives the Dolphins a chance to make the playoffs when he’s healthy, Miami is paying a lot of money to the quarterback even though he’s never won a playoff game.
In the 2024 season, Tagovailoa completed an NFL-best 72.9 percent of his passes for 2,867 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. In the 2023 season, Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards. The 2023 campaign is the only time in his career that he’s suited up in every one of the Dolphins’ regular season games.
Hopefully, the Dolphins will address the backup quarterback position in the offseason to avoid another unfortunate finish in the standings.
