There was a level of excitement when the Houston Gamblers brought in quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa to help their banged up quarterback room, but it appears the short run is over.
According to the UFL Communications Department's X page, the Gamblers have terminated Tagovailoa's contract via the waiver system. He was signed earlier in the season to help with the injuries at quarterback and try to bring a spark to the franchise.
Tagovailoa ended up appearing in four games as he threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns to one interception while rushing for 43 yards and one touchdown as well. He also fumbled the football three times and lost one.
Taulia Tagovailoa's experiment failed in Houston
In college, Tagovailoa was great when he played for Maryland as he was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and led the conference in passing yards in his final year in college back in 2023. Since playing professional football, though, he has not been able to live up to the expectations that his brother, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, has.
That now leaves the Gamblers with an interesting situation at quarterback with Hunter Dekkers and Nolan Henderson both dealing with injuries. Houston did bring in some fresh blood to the team with John Rhys Plumlee being signed to the team.
Henderson has dealt with the broken finger and Dekkers was the emergency third quarterback in the loss to the Columbus Aviators in Week 6, but with Tagovailoa also going down, it was wide receiver Jontre Kirklin who finished the game at quarterback. It's not known what the status is with Henderson and Dekkers as Gamblers head coach Kevin Sumlin does not talk about injuries publicly.
It would feel way too soon for Plumlee to play, but Tagovailoa barely had any time on the team before he played for the Gamblers, so it's definitely possible. With the season basically on the line for the next two weeks, Houston better hope that Dekkers or Henderson are ready to play or disaster could be waiting for the franchise on the other side.