The Dolphins have a winner in their QB2 battle. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report, Miami is releasing Mike White, which leaves Skylar Thompson as Tua Tagovailoa‘s backup.
Last year, it was White who prevailed over Thompson in the war to serve as Tagovailoa’s clipboard holder. At the time, that seemed to be a significant development, as Tagovailoa had yet to play a full season and was coming off a concussion-riddled 2022 campaign. Fortunately for the Dolphins and their top passer, Tagovailoa suited up for all 17 of the club’s regular season games and one playoff contest last year, so White only appeared in garbage time.
Thompson, a seventh-round pick of the Dolphins in 2022, made two regular season starts as a rookie in relief of Tagovailoa, and he nearly led the team to a playoff win over the Bills that year. That performance was not enough to stop the ‘Fins from adding White as competition in March 2023, inking the former Cowboy and Jet to a two-year deal worth up to $16M.
Given that financial commitment, it is not surprising that White beat out Thompson for the backup job in 2023, but as ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques points out, neither candidate separated himself over the course of this year’s training camp. Thompson saw the bulk of the action in the club’s preseason finale against the Bucs on Friday, completing 19 of 27 passes for 190 yards, two TDs and an interception (good for a QB rating of 99.3). White, meanwhile, completed five of nine passes for 37 yards.
Although Thompson was drafted four years after White, the players are just two years apart in age (Thompson is 27, White is 29). Thompson, though, is under club control through 2025 and will make just $985K this season. White was due a $3.5M salary, and as Adam Beasley of Pro Football Network observes, his release will net the Dolphins $2.5M in cap savings.
As they start working their way towards a 53-man roster, the Dolphins have also cut TE Jody Fortson, per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.
