Dolphins bench Tua Tagovailoa, plus the future for Aaron Rodgers, Giants, Titans and Raiders

On Monday night, a college quarterback-turned-offensive tackle made his first NFL start. That would be Dylan Cook, once a tiny-school QB before becoming a lineman at Montana. He was even the best player on Pittsburgh's offense, according to PFF (whose controversial grades The Athletic coincidentally investigated).

Inside: A Miami quarterback decision, resources for the league's worst teams and two long-awaited breakouts, plus Mike Sando on Aaron Rodgers. Let's start with the Dolphins.

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"Not good enough" was how Mike McDaniel described the play of Tua Tagovailoa, whom the 6-8 Dolphins signed to a four-year, $212 million extension last summer. The head coach added, "Everything is on the table."

Yes, the Dolphins have made a quarterback change. For now, that means seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers of Texas will start at home Sunday against the Bengals.

Tagovailoa has thrown 20 touchdowns and a league-leading 15 interceptions, ranking 34th of 42 quarterbacks in those pesky PFF grades.

With general manager Chris Grier fired earlier this year, new management could also move on from Tagovailoa this offseason. It wouldn't be cheap. The Dolphins would be hit with a $99.2 million dead-money charge, equal to 35 percent of next season's projected salary cap.

A post-June 1 trade would be much more financially palatable for a team already above the 2026 cap, but will there be a market? If the Dolphins choose to cut Tagovailoa, all might not be lost; we've seen the Broncos thrive after a similar move with Russell Wilson, who's still accounting for $32 million on Denver's cap this season. Either way, after Monday's playoff elimination, 2026 is all that matters. More details here.

Speaking of teams already moving on ...

For teams like the Jets, Raiders and Browns, it was probably never too early to start thinking about 2026. But how about everybody else?

Who should be the most optimistic? Which team has the biggest war chest? As usual, it's good to be the Rams, whose winning record is the oddball on this chart of teams set to draft early:

Here's how I'd grade the offseason potential of the three teams tied for the worst record at 2-12:

Blue-chip players litter the offense, with quarterback Jaxson Dart; running backs Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy; receiver Malik Nabers and especially left tackle Andrew Thomas, the NFL's second-highest graded tackle. With Thomas, the Giants field a top-10 offensive line. As for Nabers, Dart and Skattebo, who knows?

Defense isn't as strong, but New York has talent there too. No. 3 rookie Abdul Carter had a career-best day against Washington. Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and fellow edges Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux join him as big names under contract through next season. That makes for one of the league's top defensive fronts, though it needs a coach that brings out its best.

Losers of eight straight, the Giants were one of 2025's biggest disappointments. Injuries played a role, and though they have tight cap space and scarce draft picks, a capable head coach could return this group to the playoffs. Dane Brugler shared his thoughts on Giants draft targets here.

With a roster fairly described as the league's worst, Vegas is more than a quarterback away. The Raiders field the bleakest rushing attack, receiver room and offensive line, though left tackle Kolton Miller is a bright spot, as is tight end Brock Bowers.

The Maxx Crosby-led defense isn't as bad as the 25.5 points per game it's allowing, but it has significant holes. The Raiders need a defensive end opposite Crosby, help throughout their secondary and at linebacker.

Plenty of work to do, but Vegas' blue-chip players, cap space and draft capital could help overhaul this roster. Still, it reminds me of the 2024 Titans, raring to throw a rookie quarterback into the worst environment possible. And remember, Pete Carroll might not stick around to fix it.

Cam Ward seems to be the eventual answer at quarterback, and Tony Pollard's been running well lately, but that's about it on offense. The offensive line remains a work in progress, the injured Calvin Ridley is likely leaving an already weak receiver room and Pollard and Tyjae Spears have no guaranteed money left.

Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons is a game-changer, but needs help. They have other young building blocks, like linebacker Cedric Gray, but desperately need a pass rusher. Good timing, considering Ohio State edge Arvell Reese and Miami's Reuben Bain Jr. are two of the best players in this draft.

The holes on this roster make trading down the prudent choice. The focus should be on improving Ward's surroundings, which starts with their next head coach. Here's a list of candidates.

We'll cover the other eliminated teams over the next few weeks. For more, Dane Brugler's early-December mock draft is here. Over to Sando.

Aaron Rodgers is on pace to become the first Steelers quarterback over the past seven seasons (minimum eight starts) to finish with positive EPA on a per-play basis. The first one to produce at an above-average level, in other words.

Philip Rivers' return at age 44 got me thinking about how much longer Rodgers might play, and what it could mean for the Steelers. This was always shaping up as a one-year experiment in Pittsburgh, one final low-odds roll of the dice. That's how I saw it, anyway, and that still could be the reality.

But what if this isn't Rodgers' final season? Rodgers, 42, has played better than anticipated, especially of late. It's easy to forget now that he did not sign until June. Chemistry takes time to develop.

There were good reasons to think the Rodgers signing might be a disaster. But the things that complicated his 2024 Jets experience -- head coach fired after five games, GM gone after 11 and Rodgers stirring up the NFL's toughest media market with regular "Pat McAfee Show" appearances -- have not applied.

Durability concerns persist, but Rodgers has missed only one game to injury this season. Jayden Daniels, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, J.J. McCarthy, Jaxson Dart, Brock Purdy, Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud and Michael Penix Jr. have missed more. Patrick Mahomes and Daniel Jones are out for the season.

In an AFC race of attrition, the Steelers are hanging around. Will Rodgers? The question sounds less ridiculous than anticipated.

Let's rewind to 2021. The headliners of that draft class weren't Ja'Marr Chase or Penei Sewell, Patrick Surtain II or Micah Parsons. Instead, they were Trevor Lawrence and Kyle Pitts, billed as generational prospects in a class full of them. Revisit that Big Board here.

Yet it took until this past week for them to show us what we've mostly been missing.

What's changed for Pitts? The highest-drafted tight end in NFL history, he has only recently become the Falcons' No. 1 target, due to Drake London's injury absence.

"Just trying to take it up a notch each year and home in on the details. Just playing as fast as I can," Pitts said earlier this year. "It's my fifth year here, got a quarterback, got a fresh-start offense and ready to hoop."

Pitts has also seen his slot usage jump from 25.5 percent of his snaps with London on the field to nearly 40 percent across his past two games. In the final year of his rookie contract, Pitts is putting pressure on the Falcons to make a big decision.

The Jaguars already made their investment in Lawrence. So what's different now? First-year coach Liam Coen. As my colleague Ted Nguyen explains in his Week 15 film review, Lawrence has adapted to Coen's scheme, leading to easy looks, and is throwing the ball further downfield since the midseason trade for Jakobi Meyers.

Coen's made a few changes to Jacksonville's approach. Most notably:

"He's on fire," said teammate Travis Etienne, also with Lawrence at Clemson, where the quarterback went 38-2. "I don't think I've ever seen Trev like this, and we won a national championship together ... The growth that I've seen from him is just unbelievable."

🎯 Seahawks or Rams? Our experts weigh in on what could be the most important Thursday night game ... ever! NFC's top seed on the line. We'll have more there tomorrow.