No Tua restructure & new FAs not being tied to 2026 has some wondering
The Miami Dolphins are never short on dramatic narratives–ever! In the latest rumblings from those who cover the Phins and among fans is the curiosity of nearly everyone getting a restructure but Tua. Adding to this is that all the 2025 Free Agents have had their deals structured in one way or another to not have a red cent tied to the 2026 Season.
While all this does seem curious on the face of it, the talk that this is Tua’s last season and there’s a reboot coming next season seems off for a few reasons.
Is 2026 being set to be a new Phins Era?
First, I think Chris Grier should be gone and the whole thing should be rebuilt from the foundations. Despite my hopes, Tua’s contract is intractable until the 2027 Season and there can be no reset until we can get off his contract or he proves he’s the quarterback of the future.
You can see below cutting Tua next years before or after June 1st would cost Miami $79 million or $62 million in dead cap, respectively.
You can bet with the best pay per head that Tua is going to be on the roster until at least the 2027 offseason. And there’s isn’t a sane GM and new HC that would want to take over a gutted roster, with very little cap space, and Tua being uncuttable.
Is Chris Grier on the hotseat, really?
I’d be more apt to believe that Grier and Ross are positioning themselves for a 2027 reboot and using Tua and McDaniel as the scapegoat if things don’t play out right. If Grier was really on the hotseat and needed to win big this season to keep his job, thrift shopping in Free Agency and relying on the draft to fill the huge void in players isn’t a winner. It seems the way this team is being constructed that 2026 is Grier’s critical year, that is if he isn’t a lifer as long as Steven Ross is running the show.
Speaking for Ross, he’s in his mid 80’s and I don’t think he’s at a point where he wants to flip all his comfortability with a new GM who’ll shake things up. Again, the word is that Ross will keep the team in the family and pass it along to his daughter. This would make far more sense in 2027 when the team can start on a clean slate.
I guess who knows because with the Phins anything is possible.
If you ask me, we’ll be running this build through 2025 and 206 until the wheels fall off. The real reboot will only happen in 2027… unless this regime has serious success. This draft will go a long way towards Grier pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Go Phins!!!