Miami made it official today, announcing that they will cut Tua Tagovailoa with a post June 1 designation and taking on $99.2 million in dead money over the next two years, a record number in the NFL. The Dolphins owe Tua $54 million in cash minus any money he earns from another team, which likely would be $1.3 million. The Dolphins had no real rush to make this move as only $3 million in future guarantees were tied to an early vesting date, but making the decision now gets them moving in a different direction without all the scrutiny over Tua’s future with the team.

Miami should have two options. As a standard post June 1 the team will take a $67.4 million cap charge this year and defer $31.8 million to next year. These would be the numbers if they renounce a $15 million option in his contract. I believe the NFL rules allow them to exercise the option prior to a post June 1 designation in which case the numbers would be $55.4 and $43.8 million. In the odd event they fail to do either his cap charge this year would increase by $3 million to $70.4 million and then they would receive a $3 million credit in 2027.

Tua wound up earning $124.867 million of a $212.4 million contract he signed in 2024. He completed exactly one new year of that contract making this one of the worst investments for a team of all time. Had Miami not extended him in 2024 they could have franchise tagged him in 2025 for about $38 million. That proved to be quite the mistake by the Dolphins.