Fifth-year option decisions are not due for nearly two months, but the Dolphins are making it clear to Tua Tagovailoa he remains their centerpiece player.
The team has informed Tagovailoa his fifth-year option will be picked up, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). This will lock in the southpaw passer to $23.2MM in 2024. The 2020 CBA changed the fifth-year option to being guaranteed for injury only to fully guaranteeing players’ salaries.
At the Combine, the Dolphins were not as definitive about Tagovailoa’s future. Mike McDaniel did not guarantee the team would exercise the option, but several days later, the team is moving ahead with a nice show of confidence in its starter. This comes after Tagovailoa displayed considerable improvement but did so in a season that will be better remembered for his concussion issues. Those aside, Dolphins decision-makers have said they want Tagovailoa to be their starter for a long time.
Additional uncertainty emerged when reports began to surface indicating the Dolphins were surveying the QB market and considering outside options. This early option declaration could well be an effort by the franchise to show some faith. Following the Ravens’ decision to use the non-exclusive franchise tag on Lamar Jackson, it was reported the Dolphins are not expected to pursue the star talent. McDaniel remains behind Tagovailoa, with ESPN.com’s Jeff Darlington noting the second-year HC “fully believes Tua is the perfect fit for his system.”
This will be the first of three QB fifth-year options to be picked up before May, with the Bengals and Chargers certainly set to exercise the add-ons for Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert. It will be interesting to see how the Packers proceed with Jordan Love, who has ridden the bench for three seasons ahead of his option date. With Love looking likelier by the day to be Green Bay’s starter in 2023, he will have a decent chance of seeing that option exercised despite having been a career-long backup.
The Dolphins chose Tua one spot ahead of Herbert in 2020. While that decision has benefited the Chargers, Tagovailoa’s strides in 2022 narrowed the perception gap between these two AFC passers. After two unremarkable seasons, Tagovailoa took steps forward in McDaniel’s system. His unavailability aside, the Alabama alum finished the year third in QBR — behind only Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen — and ended his third season with 25 touchdown passes despite finishing only 12 games.
Miami’s season can be divided into two relatively separate sections: with and without Tua. The Dolphins went 8-4 in the games Tagovailoa finished. They were 1-5 in the other contests. Teddy Bridgewater‘s issues staying healthy also hurt Miami’s cause, leading to Skylar Thompson making unexpected starts — including in the team’s playoff game in Buffalo — but the Dolphins’ offense suffered immensely without its starting QB on the field. Tagovailoa has been cleared from concussion protocol, though his suffering at least two concussions — in addition to a controversial Week 3 sequence in which he showed concussion-like symptoms, leading to an overhaul to the NFL’s protocol — clouds his future. Nevertheless, the Dolphins are still betting on their former top-five investment.
After making an infamous run at Tom Brady last year and pursuing Deshaun Watson in 2021, the Dolphins will attempt to have a stable quarterback offseason. Jackson being a South Florida native would have made such a pursuit interesting, but teams have made early efforts to avoid doling out the fully guaranteed contract the former MVP seeks.
Better get a solid back-up and Teddy “two gloves” and Skyler Thompson are NOT it!!!
About 45% cheaper than today’s QB prices. $40-$50m a season for a starter.
Are NFL guarantees like those in baseball? Mostly wondering, if he has to retire due to injuries, does he still gett the money?
First: The NFL is not baseball!
Second: Did you actually read the story? Fifth-year option is fully guaranteed under the terms of the 2020 union contract.
Doubling down on a concussion prone QB.
Seems like the kind of decision you’d expect from an organization that was willing to be part of a pet detective movie.
They saw that Daniel Jones contract and it made this decision a no-brainer.
I swear I just read yesterday they were going to take most of the time before the deadline to really make the right decision.
Next I’ll see Schefter announcing his annual “Rodgers to Denver is a done deal” confirmed by “people familiar with the situation.”
I see no signs that Tommy Brady is coming to Mia
Too busy with his daughter’s cat. Didn’t you know that?
I actually see the opposite. With this move
Good enough if you’re not looking to do better than that.
I like it.
Seems they could know Brady comes for a year let Tua recover fully. Maybe more info on his brain health status. Dolphins know they will need him that next year so they pick it up now
The dude is out of the concussion protocol, thus he must be good to go, right? Right?
Tua will be good value for his fourth and fifth year if he can stay on the field. The big issue here is that Tua is not long for the league. There’s no way anyone as concussion prone as Tua is should be playing quarterback in the National Football League. The situation is bad enough that the commissioner should set up a rule to force retirement on players with the head injury history of Tua. Call it the Tagovailoa Rule.
The league cannot and should not count on players with tens of millions of dollars on the line to make the right decision.
The league could exempt the payout of the contracts of such player from salary cap (teams would still have to pay, to avoid silly contracts being signed but teams would not be made uncompetitive when such a player must retire by league regulations).