We’re About To Learn How The Miami Dolphins Really Feel About Tua Tagovailoa

When it comes to Tua Tagovailoa’s contract, the Miami Dolphins always seem to say the right thing.

But on Thursday evening, when the Jacksonville Jaguars extended Trevor Lawrence to a five-year extension worth $275 million, the situation in South Beach became a little bit trickier.

Lawrence’s extension ties Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow for $55 million annually, which is the largest contract in NFL history. While Burrow’s deal has $19 million more guaranteed than Lawrence, there’s no question that $50 million annually is the new market for quarterbacks.

While Burrow’s production and results are much higher than Lawrence and Tua, Miami’s QB is likely the best in the state of Florida. 

Throughout his career, Tagovailoa has a better winning percentage than Lawrence (.627 to .400), a higher pass per attempt average (having Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle certainly help that), as well as a higher passer rating (97.1 to 85). In just about every regular season statistical category, Tagovailoa outshines Lawrence.

Lawrence has won a playoff game. Tua has not. But that shouldn’t deter the 2020 NFL Draft’s No. 5 overall selection from settling for anything less than what Lawrence just received.

It’s wildly unlikely that Tagovailoa will want to enter this season’s training camp without an extension. He’s been “mostly absent” from Miami’s offseason workouts as he holds out for a new contract. 

Coming into the final year of his rookie deal, Tagovailoa is set to make just over $23 million. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, he’s already received and likely rejected one contract extension from the Dolphins prior to Lawrence’s new deal. It was likely less than what he was looking for, or else he would’ve signed it and been a full participant in offseason activities.

$50 million annually seems to be the benchmark to get this deal done. Lawrence’s deal all but confirmed that. Last season, Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards with 4,624 and 29 touchdowns to just 14 interceptions.

Durability and performance results against topline competition seem to be the only thing giving Miami pause. ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques reported that the Dolphins will likely try to impress Tagovailoa’s camp with incentives, but the guaranteed money is going to need to be there to get this deal done.

Coming into the offseason, the Dolphins were in a bad spot with the cap space. GM Chris Grier was able to work some magic, moving off of pricey defensive veterans like Emmanuel Ogbah and Jerome Baker while letting Christian Wilkins walk in free agency. Offensively, they lost All Pro guard Robert Hunt.

The Dolphins are in a better spot today to extend their quarterback than they were just three short months ago. However, handing out big-time, record-setting money to a player that has yet to win a playoff game is something that will give any organization pause.

We’re about to learn how the Dolphins really feel about Tagovailoa. They say all the right things. But if this holdout goes into training camp later this summer, this has the potential to become a major distraction in southern Florida.