“This isn’t breaking news. It all comes down to Tua and his ability to stay on the field,” NFL insider Tom Pelissero said bluntly on The Rich Eisen Show. “Look at Mike McDaniel’s record when Tua Tagovailoa is his starting quarterback. It’s very good. When he’s not out there, it’s not as good.” That contrast is now at the heart of a looming crisis in Miami. While Tua Tagovailoa just broke into the NFL Top 100 at No. 91, the timing and optics couldn’t be more awkward. It’s a reflection of the uncertainty that now defines Miami’s quarterback situation heading into a pivotal 2025 season.
Tagovailoa’s availability has been a flashpoint. His first documented NFL concussion in 2022, suffered during a frightening ‘Thursday Night Football’ hit against the Bengals, came just four days after he stumbled off the turf against Buffalo. The questions about durability have followed him since. Now, as the Dolphins enter a high-pressure 2025 season, both Tagovailoa and head coach Mike McDaniel are running out of room. If the quarterback can’t stay on the field and the coach can’t deliver, the franchise won’t hesitate to move on from both.
Tua Tagovailoa’s contract might say he’s locked in through 2026, but the numbers tell a different story. It’s heavily backloaded. The kind of structure that quietly sets up a clean exit after 2025 if things go sideways. If the team underperforms, a new regime could easily justify a reset. That’s not speculation. It’s precedent. Cap hits might sting, but no elite QB deal ends without some financial bloodshed. If Stephen Ross hits the eject button on Mike McDaniel, there’s no reason to believe a new GM or coach would stick around for a quarterback whose defining trait, fair or not, has been fragility. The injury file on Tagovailoa keeps getting thicker and more alarming.
The latest setback came in a high-stakes divisional clash against the Buffalo Bills. Midway through the third quarter, Tua scrambled for a crucial first down on fourth-and-four, only to have his helmet slam directly into the shoulder pads of Damar Hamlin. He stayed down for several moments before slowly making his way to the locker room. The scene was all too familiar. Another jarring hit, another game cut short. Now in his fifth year, Tagovailoa was supposed to be entering his prime. The Dolphins made that clear this offseason, handing him a four-year, $212.4 million extension. But with every head injury and this one confirmed by team officials postgame, the investment looks riskier.
Sep 12, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) is checked on by teammates after an apparent injury against the Buffalo Bills during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
And that brings us back to Mike McDaniel. His job security is no longer a backroom whisper. It’s becoming front-page urgency. During a recent Bleacher Report segment, NFL draft analyst Ray G Que laid it out plainly: “The instability of the quarterback position, and some other drama with the Miami Dolphins,” he said, “has Mike McDaniel’s future very much up in the air.” McDaniel has delivered flashes of brilliance in Miami, but the margin for error has vanished. If the quarterback position doesn’t stabilize and fast, the front office may decide it’s time for a full reset.
The McDaniel era nears a breaking point
Mike McDaniel didn’t just bring offensive creativity to Miami. He brought belief. When the Dolphins hired him in 2022, it wasn’t just about Xs and Os. It was about rebuilding a fractured foundation. Tua Tagovailoa was in pieces. Physically, mentally, and schematically, McDaniel helped reassemble him. The results were electric: in 2023, Tua led the league with 4,624 passing yards, and Miami looked like a track team running plays. But fast forward to 2025, and that optimism has started to rot. The Dolphins still haven’t won a playoff game since 2000. And suddenly, McDaniel’s future feels more fragile than innovative.
The tension hit a boiling point with a blockbuster trade that raised eyebrows across the league. Miami sent All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Pro Bowl tight end Jonnu Smith to Pittsburgh in exchange for Minkah Fitzpatrick. A move that sent shockwaves through the locker room. The message was clear: desperation has taken over. Veteran running back Raheem Mostert didn’t bite his tongue. “Hot take: Be a Pro-bowler on the Dolphins, get treated like sh*t,” he wrote on X. “Happy for my guys though! GO BALL OUT!!” It wasn’t just a vent. It was a public indictment of the culture. And when respected vets start turning on the team publicly, the walls don’t just crack. They crumble.
McDaniel was hired to be the visionary. The next-gen Shanahan mind who’d turn Miami into a modern-day juggernaut. Instead, the Dolphins have become a team defined by late-season collapses, locker room fractures, and injury-laced underperformance. Despite one of the most talented rosters in football, the drought remains. And now, so does the blame. If this season spirals and early warning signs are flashing, Dolphins ownership may have no choice but to hit reset. McDaniel’s time in Miami could end as quickly as it began. And if it does? Don’t be surprised if the next chapter sends him right back to San Francisco.
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