Not far removed from the Miami Dolphins’ decision to bench longtime starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for rookie Quinn Ewers, one former Miami signal-caller made a noteworthy prediction regarding the 27-year-old’s future with the franchise.
Ryan Fitzpatrick — a now-retired NFL journeyman who had some solid seasons in the 2010s — was teammates with Tagovailoa on the Dolphins at one point, and he claimed during Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football postgame coverage that the former University of Alabama standout’s time with the squad is over.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, on Amazon Prime Video TNF postgame coverage, says Tua Tagovailoa's time in Miami is done.
— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) December 19, 2025
Fitzpatrick and Tagovailoa were both signal-callers for the Dolphins in the 2020 season, and the two players combined to start every game at the all-important position in that campaign. Tagovailoa logged nine starts in his maiden NFL season, while Fitzpatrick started the other seven contests.
The Dolphins recently relegated Tagovailoa to their emergency No. 3 quarterback for this coming weekend after he started their first 14 games of the 2025 season. His reduction in role comes not long after Miami lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football and got mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in the process.
Assuming Tagovailoa’s season is now over, he might have just put together the worst campaign of his pro career in his sixth NFL season. He leads the league in interceptions with 15, the most he’s thrown in a single season at the highest level. Not only that, but his passing success rate of just 46.4 percent also marks a career-low for the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Considering the Dolphins have underperformed with Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback in back-to-back seasons now, Fitzpatrick may prove to be right in his take, and the lefty might very well have played his last game in a Miami uniform already.
If Tagovailoa’s stint as a Dolphin is indeed over, he helped Miami to a regular-season record of 44-32 across 76 starts in total. He was part of some elite offensive attacks earlier in his Dolphins tenure and even helped the team to an 11-win season in the 2023 campaign, when he was named a Pro Bowler.
