JULY 26: Continuing to vary his participation on a daily basis, Tagovailoa took every first-team rep during Friday’s practice (h/t Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network). McDaniel confirmed earlier on Friday the team will use a day-by-day approach at all positions (video link via Beasley). Until Tagovailoa’s extension situation is resolved, therefore, he can be expected to continue spending time both on and off the field during team sessions.
JULY 25: Last year, Brian Burns made the unusual move to pivot to a hold-in effort days before Week 1. That did not last, but Tua Tagovailoa may be shifting the relatively new negotiating tactic to a new place as well.
After taking just two snaps during 11-on-11 drills Wednesday, Tagovailoa did not participate at all during Miami’s Thursday practice. Labeling this a hold-in measure, ProFootballNetwork.com’s Adam Beasley indicated the Dolphins’ team drills — as could be expected — did not feature too much offensive success.
Mike McDaniel said Wednesday that Tua’s camp participation would be fluid during negotiations, so it is certainly possible the lefty passer suits up Friday. This would be a rather unusual effort on the QB’s part, as hold-ins typically do not feature yo-yoing with regards to participation. T.J. Watt participated partially in Steelers practices throughout his 2021 hold-in, but he passed on team drills during a negotiation that did not end until just before Week 1. Given his position, Tagovailoa not participating stands to disrupt his team’s process more so by comparison.
While it would be more interesting if Tua indeed practiced Friday, an in-and-out routine would be quite odd amid negotiations. Jordan Love is not participating in Packers practice without an extension. Tagovailoa and the Dolphins have been in talks for much of the offseason, though the Packers believed to be closer on terms with their starter compared to Miami’s talks.
Tagovailoa has turned down at least one Miami offer, and reports earlier this summer suggested hesitancy regarding AAV and guarantees with respect to the skyrocketing QB market. Trevor Lawrence secured $142MM guaranteed at signing on a $55MM-per-year deal, one that matched Joe Burrow atop the league’s salary hierarchy. It would surprise if Tagovailoa was not angling to top Lawrence’s guarantee, seeing as he has been more consistent — at least, under McDaniel — than the Jaguars starter.
For the time being, the Dolphins have Mike White and Skylar Thompson taking snaps in team drills. Tagovailoa, who is tied to a fully guaranteed $23.17MM fifth-year option this year, appears set to shift to a full-on hold-in effort or introduce a new strategy for mid-camp negotiations.
Getting out of hand.
So now it’s just baseball where athletes play out their contracts.
Both sides are right. Tua is correct that the market sets the price. Meanwhile the Fins are right not to throw $50m/season to a guy that has a hard time staying healthy.
And already is under contract. Let him finish his deal.
All of the hold outs are under contract; part of the business. My problem is with players demanding ‘long term deals’ only to be outside the top 5-7 range in 2 years, then complain how underpaid they are. Kinda foolish to me. I’d do 3 year deals only.
That’s the big thing for me. If you think prices are going up, sign a shorter contract with less guarantees. But it is impossible to expect guarantees AND flexibility.
If Tua is as injury prone as everyone labels him, then wouldn’t it make sense for him to hold out/in? That’s why the players (usually) do this in the first place, they want the security of a long term contract and not have to worry about a season ending injury in their walk year or their team tagging them two years in a row and running them into ground before discarding them.
If Tua had done ANYTHING then I’d pay him. Right now he hasn’t done much and should be paid as such. You show that team how invested you are in being there and taking this team to the top. Apparently not much since you’re sitting on your ass during practice.