DAVIE, Fla. -- Ryan Tannehill stood at the lectern Wednesday trying to sidestep questions about his shaky Miami Dolphins future, but he was adamant about one thing: He did not want this to be the end, nor did he believe it should be.

"I have a lot of belief in myself. I know what I can bring to the table, wherever it is. But, yeah, I want to be here," Tannehill said. "I want to finish my career as a Dolphin and win a championship here. That’s what they brought me here for, and that’s what I want to do.”

Dolphins coach Adam Gase is telling his players that Sunday's game at 5-10 Buffalo matters. "8-8 sounds a lot better than 7-9" is the sell job of a coach trying to motivate his team to avoid another losing season.

But questions about the Dolphins' future seem more significant than the result of a rather meaningless Week 17 contest, and one question seems louder than the rest: Will Tannehill be making his final Dolphins start Sunday at Buffalo?

We might not know the true answer until later this offseason, but it appears increasingly likely that Tannehill's status as Miami's undisputed QB1 will end in wintry Buffalo regardless of the game's result.

It works in Tannehill's favor that his head coach is maybe his biggest supporter. But over the last week, Gase has admitted that he hasn't gotten enough from his QB this season.

"At that position, you take a lot of the bullets. Sometimes you don’t get all of the credit when you might deserve it. We’ve just been so all over the place," Gase said. "One game we’ll do well on offense and then we’ll just be nonexistent one game. That’s where it can help at the quarterback position. You make an off-scheduled play or you do something where it just sparks the rest of the group. Sometimes we have that and sometimes we don’t."

Inconsistency has been a common theme in the Dolphins' mediocre season, and it has been an issue at quarterback -- both with Tannehill's play and with his health.

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Tannehill is certainly a starting-caliber NFL quarterback, and he has the respect of many Dolphins players, as evidenced by him receiving the Ed Courage Block Award, voted on by his teammates. He's missed 25 games in the last three seasons, but those inside Miami's locker room have admired his toughness. Still, Tannehill hasn't proven he has the ability to lead the Dolphins to championship contention in his seven years.

The Dolphins are at a crossroads. What to do at the QB position is the question of the offseason.

"What’s the good in wondering and pondering and wasting time thinking about it? It’s out of my control right now," Tannehill said. “I really don’t care what people outside this building think, honestly."

Tannehill has non-guaranteed salaries of $18.7 million in 2019 and $19.5 million in 2020. But his $26.6 million cap hit in 2019 is what will make the decision more difficult. Significant dead money would be involved if he were released.

Alternatives likely to be available in the draft and free agency don't seem overly exciting, but the Dolphins have deeply examined draft prospects and could strike in that area.

In a weak QB market, Tannehill could have value in a trade. Or he could remain with Miami as the stopgap for a rookie, like the role Joe Flacco filled this season in Baltimore. The Dolphins will have to weigh a plan in which they have a "good enough" quarterback as they contemplate taking a risk.

Regardless of the result Sunday in Buffalo, the Dolphins will soon have to choose whether to extend or end the Tannehill era.