Report: Dolphins Sticking With Tua as Starter in 2023
In this story:
In his report, citing league sources, Schefter also indicated that Tagovailoa could have been cleared to play this postseason had the Dolphins been able to advance with what would have been a big upset of the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
"Medical professionals also are confident that Tagovailoa should be able to resume his NFL career next season, if not sooner, sources said," Schefter wrote.
The report would seem to answer maybe the biggest question that had been hovering over the Dolphins, in light of Tagovailoa missing four games in the regular season because of two diagnosed concussions (and potentially a third in the first Buffalo game).
Head coach Mike McDaniel confirmed the report after the Dolphins' 34-31 playoff loss at Buffalo, which Tua missed as he continued to recover from his latest concussion.
"First and foremost, you guys know with Tua, we’re worried about it on a day-to-day basis, how’s he doing today and just worried about his health," McDaniel said. "Now, with that being said, yeah, of course. You guys know how I feel about Tua and that hasn’t changed at all. I see, I think we all see, him as the leader of this team and when it’s appropriate for him to lead the team, I will jump on that opportunity.
"He’s a great player with only improvement in front of him as well. We’re talking about a 24-year-old quarterback that I think when I signed up for this job, I spent six months trying to convince people that he was good. So the fact that people are – the fact that Las Vegas saw it as a four-point swing when it was announced that he was – it means that, he’s a … Yes, this is a challenging time for him, yes, his health is of primary importance, but I would be a fool to not embrace him when he’s healthy and ready to go. We’ll all be excited for that.”
Tagovailoa will enter the fourth year of his rookie contract in 2023, which calls for a guaranteed salary of $9.6 million between his base salary, remainder of his signing bonus and roster bonus, per overthecap.com.
It's a ridiculously low amount for a high-end NFL quarterback, which Tua clearly was in 2022 when he led the league in passer rating with a 105.5 mark.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TUA TAGOVAILOA AND THE LONG-TERM QUESTION
The question with Tagovailoa now will become how the Dolphins proceed with him in terms of a long-range view, which becomes a bit complicated given Tua's long list of injuries and surgeries going back to his days at the University of Alabama.
Miami has to decide before early May whether they exercise his fifth-year option, which would pay him a guaranteed $22 million in 2024.
The Dolphins also now are eligible to sign Tagovailoa to a long-term extension, though his injury history probably makes this unlikely — particularly with the amount of guaranteed money that kind of contract would bring.
The Dolphins also could let Tagovailoa play the 2023 season under his rookie contract and then sign him to an extension during the 2024 offseason if he stays on the same upward track and alleviates the injury concerns, and they also would have the option of putting the franchise tag on him if they still weren't inclined to sign him to a long-term deal.
FORGET ABOUT TOM BRADY OR DEREK CARR
The report Sunday means we probably can now dismiss the idea of big-name quarterbacks like Tom Brady or Derek Carr joining the Dolphins because neither is going to settle for being a backup.
The Dolphins will have to find themselves a dependable backup in 2023 because Teddy Bridgewater didn't prove durable in his one season with Miami and the Dolphins really can't afford to have a quarterback with durability issues to back up their starter with durability issues.
While Skylar Thompson has shown interesting potential, it's clearly not ideal to have a rookie seventh-round pick who's your third quarterback having to start a playoff game — unless, of course, the team overall has Super Bowl talent like the San Francisco 49ers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.
