3 Best Team Fits for QB Tua Tagovailoa in NFL Free Agency

Tua Tagovailoa is coming off one of his worst seasons as a pro, throwing for 2,660 yards with 20 touchdown passes and a career-high 15 interceptions for an 88.5 passer rating. The Dolphins quarterback started 14 games last year before being benched for the final three in favor of rookie Quinn Ewers. Tagovailoa has struggled to stay healthy over his six NFL seasons, missing significant time due to concussion issues in addition to rib fractures, finger fractures and a back injury. However, the Alabama product has played winning football, posting a 44-32 record as a starter, reaching the playoffs once during his time in Miami and making the Pro Bowl in 2023 after leading the NFL in passing yards that season. Selected No. 5 overall in the 2020 draft, Tagovailoa is just 28 years old. Like Super Bowl-winning QB Sam Darnold — who bounced from the Jets to the Panthers to the 49ers to the Vikings to the Seahawks — he could restart his career in another spot. In fact, one NFL scout I spoke with compared Tagovailoa’s situation to the spot Darnold was in just a few years ago. “Tua has three seasons where he was highly productive and that’s hard to ignore for a team looking for a starter,” an NFL scout told me. “The new regime in Miami may be just the fit and the answer for him. But an overall change in scenery and fit might be it also, ala Darnold.” The Dolphins would like to trade Tagovailoa but will likely have to cut him, designating him as a post-June 1 release to help pay down some of the $99.2 million in dead money on the books. Tagovailoa is due $54 million in guaranteed salary for the 2026 season, and $3 million of his 2027 salary becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the new league year next week. Here are three teams that would make sense for Tagovailoa to revive his career. 3. Arizona Cardinals The Cardinals are starting over — once again — by releasing quarterback Kyler Murray and hiring new head coach Mike LaFleur. The former Rams offensive coordinator brings with him a quarterback-friendly system that relies on running the football and the play-action game to take pressure off the QB to carry the offense. Arizona also is a warm-weather team that plays indoors, which would benefit a quarterback like Tagovailoa. He doesn’t possess a strong arm, but he is accurate, throws with anticipation and excels as a play-action passer. He would give LaFleur a low-cost option who still has tread on the tires and could excel in his offensive system, serving as a bridge quarterback until the Cardinals find a long-term developmental prospect. [RELATED: 3 Best Team Fits for QB Kyler Murray in NFL Free Agency] 2. Atlanta Falcons New head coach Kevin Stefanski drafted a left-handed quarterback in Dillon Gabriel while coaching the Cleveland Browns. Stefanski now takes over a team with a left-handed quarterback as the team’s projected starter in Michael Penix Jr. So, why not bring in a left-handed quarterback in Tagovailoa to start until Penix returns from the partially torn ACL he suffered last November? Tagovailoa would be a good fit in Stefanski’s system, a West Coast-based scheme that leans on running the football and play-action passing. The Falcons play in a dome, which should serve Tagovailoa well. Plus, Atlanta has a solid offensive line and one of the best groups of offensive weapons in the league, led by running back Bijan Robinson, tight end Kyle Pitts and receiver Drake London. 1. Los Angeles Rams Rams coach Sean McVay helped to revive the career of quarterback Baker Mayfield, who has had his best seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a 2022 stint in Los Angeles. And we’ve also seen transformations in the careers of QBs Darnold, Geno Smith and Daniel Jones after they left their original teams. Could Tagovailoa experience a similar turnaround serving as the backup to Matthew Stafford for a season in L.A.? There’s a decent chance that Rams backup Jimmy Garoppolo will have an opportunity to become a starter for another team in free agency. If that happens, Tagovailoa could sign with the Rams and learn for a year under McVay as the backup to Stafford. And if the 38-year-old NFL MVP decides to retire after the 2026 season, Tagovailoa would be in place to take over as the starter in 2027. Even if Stafford sticks around, working with the offensive guru McVay for a year could change the trajectory of Tagovailoa’s career. He could find a starting job elsewhere in 2027 and rewrite the narrative of who he is as player in the league.