Tua Isn't Stressing About Prolonged Contract Talks With Dolphins

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa plans to participate in the offseason program while the Dolphins and his camp work on a multi-year extension

Tua Tagovailoa grabbed his guitar, took to the stage and began playing one of the popular songs Bob Marley made while with The Wailers, which is called "Three Little Birds.”

The song seemingly couldn't have been more fitting when it came to his mind-set regarding the Pro Bowl quarterback's offseason pursuit of a multi-year contract, which is illustrated all throughout the song’s lyrics and chorus.

“Don’t worry about a thing, ‘Cause every little thing is going to be alright," Tagovailoa said, signing the heavily repeated line from "Three Little Birds" to the crowd attending his third annual Luau with Tua charity event at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Even though most of his quarterback peers — Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts — from the 2020 draft class have landed massive, pace-setting contracts that guaranteed each $130-146.5 million, Tagovailoa was forced to play his fourth season on his rookie deal, and he might be required to play on his fifth-year option in 2024, which will pay him nearly $23.2 million.

DOLPHINS CLAIM THEY WANT A DEAL DONE

The Dolphins’ decision-makers have openly stated the team’s desire is to lock up Tagovailoa with a multi-year deal, signing him to a contract that will without a doubt be the largest deal in franchise history. But the franchise doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to put the deal to bed.

In fact, now that Miami’s made it through the free agent spending period without gaining cap space from adjusting Tagovailoa’s cap number, and Miami has $18.9 million in cap space coming from the June 1 release of cornerback Xavien Howard, there is no immediate financial benefit to extending Tagovailoa this spring or summer unless Miami plans to be aggressive adding more free agents.

And there’s some sentiment from the critic camp that Miami would be better off letting Tagovailoa play on the fifth-year option, putting him in a prove-it season in 2024, requiring him to lead Miami to the franchise first playoff win since 2000 before handing him a five- or six-year contract worth $40-50 million annually.

The Dolphins are in position to have Tagovailoa play on the fifth-year option and then use the franchise tag, which would guarantee the 26-year-old $42.5 million for the 2025 season.

The thought process is that a $65.6 million investment made over two seasons (2024 and 2025) would be more cost-efficient and provide more flexibility for the franchise than guaranteeing him $133.7 million, which is what Herbert will receive in the first three years of the deal he signed last offseason, or the $146.5 million Burrow received in guaranteed money from the Bengals.

WILL TAGOVAILOA'S PATIENCE PAY OFF?

General Manager Chris Grier has hinted that a deal might not get done before training camp or the 2024 regular season arrives because of how complex, and gigantic quarterback contracts have become. The last time Miami was in this position with a quarterback selected in the first round they signed Ryan Tannehill to a multi-year extension before triggering the fifth-year option.

The fact no deal has been agreed to yet won’t  stop Tagovailoa from participating in the team’s offseason program.

“Just letting my agent deal with that and talk to the team about that,” Tagovailoa told the local media Thursday. “For me, my focus is when OTAs come, go to OTAs, show up and be the best teammate I can be.”

Tagovailoa is focused on turning up the volume on his game, and to do so he’s worked with Nick Hicks, Co-Owner and Director of Performance at Per4orm, on slimming down so he could enhance his mobility, and is working with the 3DQB team, which is led by Tom House and features former Dolphins quarterback John Beck, a second-round pick in 2007, on his throwing motion.

Every offseason he’s done something to evolve, and those are two of the four things he’s doing — and attempting to keep private — to take the next step, which he believes will help him lead the Dolphins further than where the franchise has been the past four decades.

At this point Tagovailoa is invested in South Florida and committed to doing his part to deliver this community its first Super Bowl win since the 1970s.

“This definitely feels like home to me. This is where both my kids were born, where we are going to raise my family,” Tagovailoa said. “This is the city that chose me to be their QB. I’m very grateful and honored for that.”