Tua Tagovailoa has had to watch several other quarterbacks sign massive contracts this offseason, from Kirk Cousins to Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence. However, the Miami Dolphins haven’t been able to do the same with their franchise quarterback, despite the 26-year-old star entering the final year of his contract.
For now, Tagovailoa is set to play under the $23.1 million team option in 2024, but if the Dolphins fail to reach an extension before next offseason’s free agency, they run the risk of letting their QB hit the open market. The Minnesota Vikings learned the hard way, that when you let a Pro Bowl QB reach free agency, allowing him to negotiate with several teams, the price goes way up.
Many are wondering why the Dolphins are waiting so long to pay Tagovailoa. The longer they wait, the more they’ll have to pay, especially if he can have another strong season after leading the NFL in passing yards in 2023.
Yet, some, well, one unnamed current NFL GM believes the Dolphins would be foolish to pay Tagovailoa ahead of his contract year.
“I talked to a GM for a different team this morning…what he said was, ‘I would let Tua play it out,’” Pelissero said when asked about teams resetting the quarterback market. “…The GM who called me this morning was saying like, ‘You can’t do a deal at that number, it’s gone too far.’”
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Tagovailoa is a bit of a polarizing figure in that he’s battled several injuries during the first four seasons of his career, but he’s never played in fewer than 13 games since his rookie season. There’s also a case to be made that Mike McDaniel’s system puts the Dolphins QB in a very advantageous position, where he also benefits from having a star-studded receiving corps led by Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
Combine those two Pro Bowl talents with an endless supply of one-cut running backs that can seemingly take any handoff to the house, and it’s no surprise to see Miami finish with the NFL’s second-highest-scoring offense in the league as they did last season.
Yet, despite being one of the NFL’s best offenses, the Dolphins may be willing to call Tagovailoa’s bluff and let him play out the season on his current contract. We’ll see how it works out.
Related: See where Tua Tagovailoa lands in Sportsnaut’s NFL QB Rankings