The Jacksonville Jaguars have added another young quarterback to their roster, acquiring Quinn Ewers from the Miami Dolphins on Saturday in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick in 2028, the teams announced.
Ewers, 23, was selected by Miami in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft after a standout college career. He appeared in four games as a rookie, completing 66.3% of his passes for 622 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Dolphins initially kept Ewers on their 53-man roster as the team’s emergency third quarterback behind Tua Tagovailoa and Zach Wilson. He made his NFL debut during a blowout loss to the Cleveland Browns midway through the season, completing 5 of 8 passes for 53 yards. His first career completion went for 40 yards to Dee Eskridge.
Ewers returned to his third-string role following that game but eventually earned his first NFL start in Week 16 after Tagovailoa was benched. He made three starts to finish the season and went 1-2 during that stretch.
His best performance came in a 20-17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ewers completed 14 of 22 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns, providing Miami with a glimpse of the potential that led the organization to draft him.
Following the arrival of a new regime in Miami, Ewers was given an opportunity to compete for the backup quarterback position alongside Cam Miller and Mark Gronowski.
After a promising spring, however, Ewers struggled during training camp. He appeared in only one preseason game, completing just 1 of 8 passes for 27 yards and an interception. A groin injury then kept him sidelined for Miami’s final two preseason games.
With Ewers now headed to Jacksonville, the Dolphins will have to determine how they want to fill their backup quarterback role.
Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said the team is “likely” to keep only two quarterbacks on its initial 53-man roster, meaning Miami could potentially address the position through a trade or the waiver wire.
For Jacksonville, the acquisition of Ewers appears to signal that veteran backup Nick Mullens could be on his way out. The Jaguars signed Mullens to a two-year, $4.5 million contract with $3 million guaranteed in March 2025.
He was scheduled to earn $1.7 million in 2026 Releasing Mullens would save Jacksonville approximately $1.2 million while leaving the team with a $1.3 million dead-cap charge. Mullens, 31, played in five games for Jacksonville last season, primarily in mop-up duty. He completed all three of his pass attempts for 19 yards.
An undrafted free agent out of Southern Mississippi, Mullens entered the NFL in 2018 with the San Francisco 49ers. He spent three seasons in San Francisco before later playing for the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings. He joined Jacksonville after spending three seasons in Minnesota.
The trade gives Ewers an opportunity to reset his career with the Jaguars after losing the backup competition in Miami.
Jacksonville will hope the former seventh-round pick can develop into a reliable option behind its starting quarterback. Ewers’ experience from his rookie season, including three starts and a two-touchdown performance against Tampa Bay, gives the Jaguars an intriguing young player to develop.
The timing of the trade is also significant, with NFL teams required to reduce their rosters to 53 players by 6 p.m. ET Sunday.
For Miami, the trade clears another quarterback from the depth chart and provides a future draft asset. For Jacksonville, the move represents a low-cost gamble on a 23-year-old quarterback who has already experienced meaningful NFL action.
Ewers now gets a fresh opportunity to prove that his rookie flashes were more than just a glimpse of what he can become.
