Analyst reveals Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa brutal NFL reality in 2026

The NFL, as we often hear, stands for "Not For Long," and when it comes to Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, his career has taken a serious detour.

Once seen as one of the better quarterbacks in football under Mike McDaniel, Tua's stock has taken a nosedive to the point where now, his time in Miami feels like it could be over, and then just who takes a chance on him is unknown.

His huge contract is one thing, and his play in 2025 is another, so there doesn't appear to be a lot of incentive for teams to hand Tua the keys to their offense in 2026.

And for NFL.com's Eric Edholm, he's delivered a harsh yet fair reality that could hit Tua in 2026.

"With Mike McDaniel gone and a new regime in place, it’s possible that Tagovailoa has played his final snaps for the Dolphins,” Edholm wrote. “Whether he's in Miami or not, it’s hard to imagine Tua being handed a starting job without some competition; in other words, he's unlikely to become someone else's instant starter. Still, a move would have a major impact on multiple franchises.”

More: 1 key decision could drastically impact Chiefs' 2026 season

Is Tua's future in Miami or elsewhere?

In truth, it feels like a coin flip.

But as Edholm stated, Tua's days as a bona fide starter are likely over. He'll now have to "win" jobs in training camp. 

Granted, that's not ideal, but we have seen others like Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield have career re-births in the league, and maybe Tua is the next to follow suit.

Either way, this offseason promises to be an interesting one with Tagovailoa set to have his NFL career drastically altered.

Where will he land? Who knows.

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