Tua Tagovailoa injury: Five emergency QB options for Dolphins, including big-name trade targets

Where could Miami turn if Tagovailoa is sidelined indefinitely?

By Cody Benjamin Sep 13, 2024 at 9:18 am ET• 3 min read

In the wake of Tua Tagovailoa's Thursday injury, the third documented concussion for the Miami Dolphins quarterback since 2022, it's fair to say many are more concerned with the 26-year-old's long-term health than what's next under center in Miami. CBS Sports HQ injury expert Marty Jaramillo, for example, said that Tagovailoa's medical history suggests retirement should be on the table, and former NFL greats like Tony Gonzalez and Richard Sherman have already echoed as much, urging Tagovailoa to call it a career.

At some point, however, the Dolphins will need to make a decision on their quarterback plans. Coach Mike McDaniel emphasized in his postgame news conference Thursday that Miami's blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills will serve as a "gut check" for the 2024 campaign, arguing the dire straits of Week 2 will either propel or sink what remains of this year's playoff aspirations. Presuming Tagovailoa is sidelined indefinitely, the Dolphins' response may well depend on who's running McDaniel's offense moving forward.

With Tagovailoa, after all, SportsLine had the Dolphins projected to hit nine wins in 2024, with a 50.3% chance of making the playoffs. If he's out for, say, 10 weeks, that projected win total drops to 6.4, and the playoff chances plummet to 8.7%.

Thursday fill-in Skylar Thompson has stepped in on multiple occasions since arriving as a seventh-round draft pick in 2022, but the third-year reserve has been erratic in every appearance. So where else could the Dolphins turn for help? Here are five emergency options at quarterback:

Ryan Tannehill TEN • QB • #17 View Profile

If the Dolphins are looking for the most seamless, most experienced replacement, Tannehill is the guy. At 36, he's a shell of his 2019-2020 self, which helped redefine the Tennessee Titans as a scrappy contender, but he's got 150+ starts under his belt and has been waiting on the "right opportunity" as a free agent. More than that, he knows the city well, spending the first seven years of his career with the Dolphins, and has enough play-action prowess to be a figurehead for McDaniel's run- and timing-based attack.