Deciphering The Impending Tua Decision
Photo Credit: Jim Rassol via USA TODAY Sports
The time for Tua Tagovailoa’s contract extension is getting closer and closer. While it will be a talking point for the entire offseason, it is not high on Tua’s list of worries.
Tua Tagovailoa is "not worried" about his contract extension👇#FinsUppic.twitter.com/YF9mcRRS03
— Fins Up 🐬 (@FinsUp__) January 15, 2024
Tua is coming off of an 11-6 season where they went 10-1 against losing teams and 1-5 against teams that made the playoffs.
“The goal is to have him here long term playing at a high level,” said Dolphins GM Chris Grier. “That’s always the goal and we’ll continue to communicate with him through the offseason here.”
These contract extension talks come at a time where Miami is in a tough salary cap situation, as they are nearly $41 million over the salary cap. They also still need to add talent on defense, and they have to consider the fifth year options of two of their more talented players.
The Dolphins might be making fifth-year option decisions on their last first-round picks (Jaylen Waddle, Jaelan Phillips 2021) before they select in the first round again. https://t.co/74rir5PDC8
— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) January 16, 2024
The salary cap is of no concern to Grier.
“We’re not really, right now, concerned about where we’ll be in March, salary cap wise,” Grier said. “I think (Senior VP of Football & Business Administration) Brandon Shore and (Director of Football Administration and Strategy) Max Napolitano, we’ve had a lot of conversations. They’ve given us a lot of flexibility with multiple options of ways we can be creative and so hats off to them just through their work and grind on things.
The most pressing long term need, however, is securing Tua for the long term while navigating cap restrictions, ensuring they keep a talented team around him, and, for Mike McDaniel, seeing improvement out of his signal caller.
“I think that’s what I want to see, is that continued thirst to find different ways, while maintaining and growing your confidence, to always create new edges in your game,” McDaniel said. “Is Tua going to be a zone-read option quarterback? No. But I think he has developed in some – like buying extra time when necessary. I think that will continue to improve where you can just maybe move off the spot a little bit and not necessarily run for a first down, but you can extend the play.…all these things, it’s all about progression. I think he just needs to continue to do what he has been doing in terms of progressing and I’ll be very much happy with that.”
The world at large is concerned with the contract extension, but for Grier and McDaniel, their primary concern is conducting business as usual and running their organization.
“We’ll work through it all,” Grier said. “We’ll just keep (having )our conversations and (keep) working with him. I think everything will be productive and we’ll see what happens.”
Last offseason, the Dolphins exercised Tua’s fifth year option, meaning he will make nearly $23.2 million in the 2024 season. As for how far along each side is in terms of finalizing Tua’s contract extension, Chris Grier is not revealing much.
“We’ve had conversations,” Grier said. “Like we said, we wouldn’t talk throughout the season in terms of contract stuff, but we’ve stayed in touch with his agent and had good conversations throughout the year. We’re never talking about money or anything, just (having) good conversations about where he is and the relationship with Mike (McDaniel) and the team here and everything he’s done.”
Tua is about to enter his fifth season in the NFL, where he boasts a 32-19 record as a starter. In 2022, he led the NFL in yards per attempt and passer rating. In 2023, he earned his first ever Pro Bowl selection, started every game for the first time in his career, and led the NFL in passing yards.
Up Next