We’re 224 games into the NFL regular season, with 48 to go. That means the questions we’re getting are all over the map. Here are some answers …
Miami Dolphins
From Amol Yajnik (@amolyajnik): So, uhhhhhh, what happens now at QB in Miami?
Amol, the Dolphins will spend the rest of the season evaluating the position. As I see it, that’s probably a precursor to the end of the Tua Tagovailoa era in Miami. The sixth-year quarterback, still only 27, is guaranteed $54 million for 2026, making this situation pretty complicated coming out of ’25. On top of the guarantee, there’s an early trigger in the contract that will likely force an early decision.
As the contract is currently structured, Tagovailoa has a $54 million base salary for 2026. However, there’s an option bonus of $15 million in March—if the team picks it up, then that knocks the base down to $39 million for next year, and helps ease the cap burden. But once you pick that up, that money is gone. The Dolphins could eat that bonus and then try to trade Tagovailoa off the lower number. They could eat even more of the salary and try to buy back a pick. Or they could go forward with Tagovailoa as their 2026 bridge quarterback.
That sounds jarring because in two years, Tagovailoa went from playing at the highest level to, essentially, becoming what Sam Darnold was in Minnesota in 2024. But if you can deal with paying him, utilizing him as a bridge quarterback would give you flexibility to pass on the ’26 draft quarterbacks and available veterans, if you don’t like what’s out there.
Which could prevent the sort of bad mistake teams make when they force things at that position.
For now, I’m excited to see what Quinn Ewers can do. The seventh-rounder was once the top high school recruit in the country, and most sought-after quarterback in years. Ohio State landed him after he reclassified, then he ended up back home at Texas and he led the Longhorns to the CFP semifinals in 2024. His nickname, when he was being recruited, was “Mullet Mahomes.” Obviously, that was a bit much. But there’s some talent there.
From ignacio vidal (@manuma178): After Monday’s dismal performance, is Mike McDaniel firmly back on the hot seat?
Ignacio, I’d say that all of this needs to be viewed through a big-picture lens. The same way that a 5–1 stretch punctuated with a four-game winning streak didn’t assure him of keeping the job, a bad night in Pittsburgh won’t cost him the job.
Yes, the Dolphins are eliminated from the postseason at 6–8. And that’s not great news for Mike McDaniel.
But it does give him the chance—with games against Joe Burrow, Baker Mayfield and Drake Maye left on the schedule—to show ownership that he can keep his team engaged and developing after a long year. When GM Chris Grier was let go on Halloween, that was seen internally as the barometer for the coach. So whether McDaniel can keep his hold on the locker room is going to be a factor.
To me, that will go a long way toward determining whether a reworked Dolphins structure includes McDaniel in 2026. My guess is you’ll have the GM working alongside cap chief Brandon Shore and the coach in a Lions/Rams–type setup, with all three reporting to ownership (and Stephen Ross’s son-in-law Daniel Sillman likely in a more prominent role). Ross really likes McDaniel, so I could definitely see him wanting to get a year’s look at him in a new environment.
But, of course, that’d be a tougher sell if the team doesn’t respond to him over the next three weeks. We’ll see how things go against the Bengals, Bucs and Patriots.
Coach of the Year
From Richard Gage (@richg780): Who’s going to win Coach of the Year? Can think of at least three candidates—Shane Steichen, Kyle Shanahan and Ben Johnson …
Those three deserve consideration, but at this point, for me, it’d come down to Ben Johnson and two coaches you didn’t name (Mike Vrabel and Liam Coen). I say that at risk of falling into the “new coach” trap on this award, where it just goes to the new guy who engineered the biggest turnaround.
Out of respect to Shane Steichen and Kyle Shanahan, both the Colts coach and the Niners coach have been phenomenal. Steichen’s team started 8–2, slipping after Daniel Jones sustained a fractured fibula, which he played through as the schedule stiffened. The team’s effort behind Philip Rivers in Seattle last week is another notch in his belt. Shanahan is one of those “could win it in any year” candidates, but this season stands out because of the youth on his roster, and the rash of injuries his 10–4 team has endured.
Now onto the other three, I’d probably vote for Vrabel right now. And that’s because I think of those three coaches, the roster he inherited probably had the furthest to go. He’s helped Maye get to an MVP level, reinvented what was a bad offensive line, managed the arrival of stars such as Stefon Diggs and Milton Williams, and oversaw the development of a roster that has very few players who haven’t improved this year.
That said, Coen has completely changed the face of the Jaguars, and Johnson almost instantaneously transported the physical ethos he helped build in Detroit to Chicago. And lately, the young quarterbacks in both places have been playing a lot better.
Suffice it to say, this is a heated race.
NFL parity
From Ronnie (@Tray4o): Seems like a lot of teams are Super Bowl-type teams. Do you believe it’s wide open as it looks?
Ronnie, I’d say … yes.
Coming into this year, I was of the opinion that the parity that the NFL loves to trumpet was overstated. Last year, all four AFC division champions repeated, and the story in that conference was usually the same—Patrick Mahomes’s Chiefs trying to fend off the Bills, Ravens and Bengals. Meanwhile, in the NFC, the Eagles, Rams and Niners have passed the baton among themselves for more than half a decade.
But now? Well, the Niners and Eagles are wounded, Mahomes is hurt and the Chiefs are out. Burrow missed most of the season, and the Bengals are out. The Bills and Ravens, behind their superstar quarterbacks, have been beaten up and a bit diminished this year.
That’s how we got where we are now, with the Broncos, Patriots and Jaguars occupying the top three seeds in the AFC, and the powerhouse Rams (this year’s holder of the baton) being chased most closely by the Seahawks and Bears. The most interesting storyline of the postseason for me will be whether we get another old-guard Super Bowl (like my preseason pick, Bills vs. Rams) or whether upstarts crash the party.
New York Jets
From makoshita (@chirench): Did the Jets make a mistake hiring a HC with a defensive background? Any hope in 2026??
It’s way too early for that. I think what you’re seeing now, though, is repudiation of what was previously built in Florham Park, with Aaron Glenn and GM Darren Mougey tearing so many elements they inherited down.
And I think what you’re saying when you ask if they made a mistake in hiring a coach with a defensive background is that they hired one who doesn’t call the offensive plays. Yet, I’d tell you that some of the best hires of this decade, going back to 2020—Nick Sirianni, DeMeco Ryans, Mike Vrabel—aren’t calling the offensive plays for their teams.
Give Glenn time. I think he’ll be good.
Philip Rivers
From TanktasticTweets (@TanktasticT): With Philip Rivers kicking butt at age 44, do you see more old QBs coming out of retirement late season as it has been Year 5 of the league wiped by injuries?
Tanktastic, does Rivers’s ability to go out there and function at 44 after a five-year layoff say something about the NFL? Sure, it does. The league’s gone out of its way to protect quarterbacks and elevate the passing game, and I think those factors make a situation like Rivers’s return more realistic. And, yes, the more success Rivers has, the more teams would look at the idea of calling retired QBs in the sort of emergency the Colts were in.
But I wouldn’t make a whole lot more out of it than that.
John Harbaugh
From Derek Nelson (@_derekn): Would John Harbaugh be more likely to take a year off or take the Giants job if he and Baltimore go their separate ways?
Derek, I think when a coach has been anywhere as long as John Harbaugh has been in Baltimore (this is his 18th season), these questions are going to be asked—and they are, most certainly, asked of Harbaugh’s closest contemporary, Mike Tomlin.
I think if the Ravens and Harbaugh reach the “it’s just time” point in the next few years, the 63-year-old coach will look to keep working and will quickly get offers to do so. From there, I think it would be a “not if, but when” proposition. Harbaugh has worked in highly stable, professional environments throughout his 28 seasons in the NFL (including 10 years as a Philly assistant). I point that out to say that I think he knows what he’s had, and probably wouldn’t go to a place that he doesn’t believe is structured that way.
The Giants would, for obvious reasons, make sense as a place with the sort of proven foundation Philly and Baltimore have. But, again, I don’t think he’d go just anywhere.
Cleveland Browns
From Gordon (@Gordo_CLE): Browns need to clear house, right? QB room, coach, GM. Feels like everyone needs a change of scenery. If only we could include the owner…
Gordo, I just mentioned the “it’s just time” dynamic, and as I mentioned earlier this week, I wonder if it’s getting to that point in Cleveland with the current regime.
I’ll say again that I think owner Jimmy Haslam really likes coach and GM. But given how the team has looked as of late, it’s fair to ask whether Kevin Stefanski can reignite the spark his Browns had during the first four years he and GM Andrew Berry ran the team. Which is to say, I think some hard conversations will be had over the next few weeks. Most folks I talk to don’t believe Haslam has made a decision yet on what he’ll do.
As for the quarterback situation, I’d say that comes after you decide what to do with the people you’ve put in positions to make the decisions.
Coaching carousel
From Coaster (@coasterfreek): How many coaches are likely to be fired by Black Monday?
Coaster, I’ll set my over-under at five (and they don’t all happen on Black Monday anymore, remember), with two openings out there already.
Seattle Seahawks
From Evan Atwater (@evanatwater): Will John Schneider get his first executive of the year award? Who else might win it?
Evan, he deserves it. The Russell Wilson trade set the stage for a roster makeover that has the Seahawks positioned to make a Super Bowl run this year and compete for years to come. The team’s young core—with Charles Cross, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Byron Murphy II and Devon Witherspoon at the head of that table—is exciting. Schneider had Geno Smith in the bullpen when Wilson was traded, then swapped out Smith for Darnold. Acquisitions such as Leonard Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence have helped. He hired Mike Macdonald.
So, yeah, I’d say Schneider’s right there in the running with guys such as Denver’s George Paton, the Rams’ Les Snead, Jacksonville’s James Gladstone, Chicago’s Ryan Poles and New England’s Eliot Wolf. And should probably win it (I can’t believe he hasn’t won one already).
Super Bowl favorites
From GB (@GarrisonBryant): What would be most entertaining Super Bowl matchup? Is the NFC championship the Super Bowl?
I’d love to see my pick, Bills vs. Rams—that would be a very fun matchup. And, no, I don’t think the NFC championship is the Super Bowl. The NFC’s been the better conference this year, which I wouldn’t have expected. But the AFC was the better conference last year, and the champion came out of the NFC.
Arizona Cardinals
From K1SinceDay1 (@KSzn2021): Update on Jonathan Gannon’s seat. Have you talked to anyone in the know on if there is a chance he’s fired? Also interesting the DL coach left for Mich State for the same position. Thoughts on that?
K1, seeing assistants leave can be a tell—generally, those guys are pretty aware of how much trouble the staff is in, and so having one leave in December is an ominous sign.
That said, I don’t know that anything is final there. I have Arizona marked down as one of the likely openings, because of where they stand in Jonathan Gannon’s third year in charge. But, over his first two seasons, Gannon really seemed to have his program headed in the right direction.
NFL schedule
From Hrvoje Bulić (@BulljiveU): When putting the schedule together, why doesn't the league make sure teams play each division rival at least once before December? It feels unfair when Philly plays a down-and-out Washington team twice in the last three weeks (like Buffalo did vs NE last season).
Short answer: Because everything is dictated by creating the most compelling television, and the networks are constantly jockeying to get the best schedule possible.
As part of that, this year, the NFL really did work to both frontload and backload the schedule. And that’s what’s interesting about the examples you raise. The Patriots, in their first post–Bill Belichick season and with a first-round quarterback, seemed like a compelling matchup for Buffalo when the 2024 slate came out that May. Ditto for Philly-Washington this past May—it was an NFC title game rematch between big-market teams with star QBs.
So the league put those games at the end, figuring they’d be big-stakes showdowns. And then, the season started, and everything changed.
None of this is a perfect science.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Is the Tua Tagovailoa–Mike McDaniel Era Over in Miami?.