The Tua Comment That Really Mattered

Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa again is under scrutiny for something he said during a press conference

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) talks to reporters during a press conference after training camp at Baptist Health Training Complex. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Another day, another Tua Tagovailoa comment that blows up on social media.

The Miami Dolphins quarterback raised some eyebrows this time by answering a question about why he didn't target wide receiver Jaylen Waddle more often against the Cleveland Browns last Sunday by pointing out he's not that tall, and sometimes he can't see past the offensive and defensive linemen in front of him.

The immediate reaction to that comment from here is a simple, and? So what?

#Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa said part of the reason he didn’t target Jaylen Waddle much vs. the #Browns was because he had trouble seeing him over the O-line and D-line:

“I’m not the tallest guy back there. Sometimes when that happens you don’t want to just throw it blindly.” pic.twitter.com/gxlJOADdjp

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 22, 2025

Is this anything to get worked up over? Like, is there anything in there that's not obvious? And didn't he say something similar a couple of years ago (spoiler alert: he did)?

But this is how things are going with Tua these days, with a lot of folks just waiting to pounce on anything he does or says.

From this vantage point, his previous comment about the team's leadership issues and players being late to "player-led meetings" was a lot more problematic.

But if we're being honest, nothing was as problematic as two comments he made last year. And it wasn't so much what he said but what was involved.

"The market is the market."

"Show me the money."

THE TUA PROBLEM

No, Tagovailoa's performance isn't the sole or probably even the main reason the Dolphins find themselves in the. middle of a lost season and staring at an overhaul next year, but it's certainly a factor.

And what makes Tua's performance is the contract the Dolphins gave him in July of 2024, after his famous "The market is the market" comment a month earlier, which led him to shout the famous movie quote in front of fans at a training camp practice.

The problem with the contract — often cited at four years, $212 million, but more precisely is a deal with $167 million guaranteed — is that it will tie the Dolphins' hands in 2026 as they almost inevitably will need to start over.

The Dolphins have a 9-15 record since Tagovailoa got his new contract, and it's undeniable that the quarterback's performance has regressed — a bit last year but noticeably this year — and maybe the time has come for a change at quarterback.

This is where Tua's contract makes that very difficult, if not impossible.

Tagovailoa has $54 million guaranteed in 2026, and that cap number won't come down even with a post-June 1 designation. The Dolphins' cap hit for Tua would go to $99 million with a normal offseason release, but still $67 million even with a post-June 1 designation.

That number would exceed what the Denver Broncos absorbed to get rid of Russell Wilson last year, which was $53 million of cap space in 2024 and an additional $32 million in 2025.

The only way to drop Tua's cap number for 2026 is via trade, but it's tough to find a realistic scenario where any team would take on his $39 million guaranteed salary plus additional bonus money.

In fact, when talking about the Dolphins' possible scenarios regarding Tagovailoa in 2026, neither MMQB national writer Albert Breer nor CBS Sports cap expert Joel Corry even brought up the idea of a potential trade.

NOT TUA'S FAULT

This whole exercise isn't to blame Tua for his comments, but rather the Dolphins for agreeing that "The market is the market" and for following the lead of other teams that gave their quarterbacks "market" deals.

Remember that the Dolphins could have made Tua play on his fifth-year option, and in retrospect, that obviously would have been the right move.

But the Dolphins were all in on Tua after his 2023 Pro Bowl season and seemed to look past the obvious concerns with giving him a big-money deal, including the durability issues and the fact the Dolphins didn't reach 20 points in any of their final three games against high-end opponents in that otherwise memorable 2023 season.

The bottom line here is that maybe more attention should have been paid and more criticism applied to things like "The market is the market" as opposed to not being able to see over offensive and defensive linemen.