The Miami Dolphins cut bait with their longtime starter, Tua Tagovailoa, at the start of the offseason. Now, the franchise is moving on from another notable quarterback in Quinn Ewers. The franchise agreed to a trade to send the 2025 seventh-rounder out of Texas to the Jacksonville Jaguars, according to ESPN. In exchange, the Dolphins will reportedly receive a 2028 sxith-round pick.
After a standout collegiate career at Texas, where he earned second-team All-SEC honors in 2024, Ewers entered the 2025 NFL Draft but didn’t have much fanfare. He was taken late on Day 3 to serve as a developmental piece on Miami’s QB depth chart behind Tagovailoa, the then-starter.
Ewers saw action as a rookie, starting three games for the Dolphins late last season (Week 16 through Week 18). Over that stretch, he went 1-2 as Miami’s starter while completing 50 of his 75 pass attempts (66.7%) for 569 yards, three passing touchdowns, and three interceptions. Ewers also rushed for 19 yards in that time.
Over the preseason, Ewers saw minimal work due to a groin injury. When he was on the field, he completed just one of his eight pass attempts for 27 yards and an interception.
This offseason saw wholesale changes in Miami, as the club hired a new general manager, Jon-Eric Sullivan, and head coach, Jeff Hafley. That new regime put any of the old guard, including Ewers, on thin ice entering the summer, especially after moving on from Tagovailoa and implementing veteran Malik Willis, whom they signed in free agency, as the starter.
Behind Willis, the Dolphins have Cam Miller and undrafted rookie Mark Gronowski on the quarterback depth chart.
Meanwhile, Ewers now arrives to a Jaguars team that has an established starter in Trevor Lawrence, who is coming off arguably the best season of his career under coach Liam Coen. The 23-year-old will now jockey with Nick Mullens, Carter Bradley and Joey Aguilar for positioning in the QB pecking order.
Quinn Ewers trade grades
Dolphins: C
At the end of the day, Ewers was not in the Dolphins’ long-term plans. This was an entirely new regime compared to the one that drafted him in 2025, and if the Malik Willis experiment fails, they pivot to a quarterback in the first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. While acquiring a Day 3 pick in the 2028 NFL Draft doesn’t exactly move the needle, it’s the type of move that Jon-Eric Sullivan should make. They give themselves increased draft capital down the road for a player they probably would’ve cut otherwise.
Jaguars: C+
The Jaguars come out “on top” of this draft simply because Ewers is the only known commodity in the trade. At the moment, it’s unclear what that 2028 sixth-rounder will ultimately become, so we’ll give Jacksonville the slight edge in this trade. At one point in his collegiate career, Ewers was considered a highly touted prospect. Given that he was eventually a seventh-round pick, things have certainly gone sideways in that regard, and he hasn’t done much to endear himself at the NFL level either. Still, being immersed in Coen’s offense and working behind Lawrence could do Ewers a world of good and maybe eventually make him a serviceable backup.
