Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in a September loss to the Buffalo Bills and subsequently was sidelined for four games. One of the quarterbacks Miami turned to in Tagovailoa’s absence was former Baltimore Ravens signal-caller Tyler Huntley.
Huntley started three of the four games Tagovailoa missed, and he led Miami to its only win without its usual starter. Miami earned a 15-10 victory over the New England Patriots on Oct. 6, and Huntley threw for 194 yards in that contest.
Now, it appears as though Huntley may stick around with the Dolphins for a little while longer.
“Impending unrestricted free agent Tyler Huntley, who was named the Dolphins’ No. 2 quarterback earlier this month, told The Miami Herald on Friday that the team has expressed an interest in bringing him back next season,” wrote Dolphins insider Barry Jackson.
“Does that mean the Dolphins’ decision on Tua Tagovailoa’s backup for 2025 is totally settled? That’s not certain, because A). the Dolphins and Huntley first need to agree on a contract presuming Miami doesn’t change its mind and B). It’s possible Miami could bring in another player worthy of competing for the No. 2 job, though that would be financially daunting.
“But Huntley’s comments at his locker on Friday suggest that there’s a very good chance that Tagovailoa’s 2025 backup is already on the roster.
“‘I got a good feeling I’m going to be home for a little bit,’ the Dania Beach native Huntley said, confirming that Miami’s interest in keeping him beyond this season has been conveyed to his agent, Zeke Sandhu. ‘I’m going to be down here in Miami in a little bit. It’s all God’s plans, but I’ve got a good feeling I’ll be home for a little bit.’”
Huntley is earning just over $1 million with the Dolphins this season. He’s currently scheduled to hit free agency in the offseason.
The veteran is quite the experienced backup quarterback. He spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Ravens and even earned a Pro Bowl nod (albeit a bizarre one) in the 2022 campaign. He has appeared in 23 regular-season games during his career and two playoff games.
The former University of Utah star also brings more to the table as an offensive threat than merely his passing chops. He’s a rock-solid rusher in spurts, something he showed earlier this season. For example, in the Dolphins’ loss to the Tennessee Titans back on Sept. 30, he totaled 40 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
However, for as talented as Huntley is, Miami simply didn’t look very effective when he was in charge of the offense this season. The Dolphins didn’t muster more than 15 points in any one of the three games he started, and Miami scored just 10 points in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts in October during that span.
As such, it’s certainly debatable whether Huntley has done enough to show that he’s worthy of a new deal with the Dolphins, and it would be easy to understand if some folks are against the idea of Miami making such a signing.
But what’s strikingly clear is that Miami would benefit from securing some depth at the all-important position in the offseason, so the question is how the Dolphins should go about doing so.
