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NFL GM Believes Dolphins Should NOT Extend Tua Tagovailoa

By Admin / June 19, 2024

Highlights

  • Tua Tagovailoa’s potential extension may be too expensive for the Miami Dolphins.
  • One GM believes Tua should play the last year of his contract before a possible extension.
  • Tua’s stats compare well to Trevor Lawrence, but team performance also matters in contract talks.


With a couple of quarterbacks signing massive extensions earlier this offseason, the attention has turned to other QBs entering their contract year, including Tua Tagovailoa.

While the Miami Dolphins appear to want to extend their 2020 first-round pick, one anonymous NFL general manager believes the price tag to extend Tua will simply be too high.

The NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero joined the ‘Rich Eisen Show’ this week, and shared that the GM told him he would let Tua play out the last year of his contract, which is set to expire after this season, when the team’s fifth-year option runs out.


The NFL’s quarterback market has been reset in a big way, with Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence recently landing massive extensions.

  • Goff signed a four-year, $212 million contract extension with the Detroit Lions, including $170 million guaranteed
  • Lawrence reached a five-year, $275 million extension with the Jacksonville Jaguars, with $200 million guaranteed

As for Tua, the GM told Pelissero that he’s simply not worth that money as things stand now.

I talked to a GM for a different team this morning…what he said was, ‘I would let Tua play it out. The GM who called me this morning was saying like, ‘You can’t do a deal at that number, it’s gone too far.’

The important thing is, how much do the Dolphins value their fifth-year quarterback?

Miami's QB Tua Tagovailoa launches a pass

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Tua Tagovailoa Miami Dolphins 2023
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Pelissero noted in his interview with Eisen that $55 million now appears to be the baseline for an extension involving a QB coming off their rookie deal.

Now you have to look at this if you’re Tua’s agent and say [$55 million’s] the floor and we want to beat that, because Trevor Lawrence statistically has not done what Tua’s done over the past couple years.

It’s a fair point, as Tagovailoa has in fact posted better statistics than Lawrence the last two seasons. Both QBs have reached the playoffs within the past two years, though Tua only made his first playoff start this past January, as he was injured the year prior.

Tua Tagovailoa & Trevor Lawrence’s 2022-2023 Stats

Category

Tua (2022)

Lawrence (2022)

Tua (2023)

Lawrence (2023)

Completion %

64.8

66.3

69.3

65.6

Passing Yards

3,548

4,113

4,624

4,016

TD/INT

25/8

25/8

29/14

21/14

QB Record

8-5

9-8

11-6

8-8

Passer Rating

105.5

95.2

101.1

88.5


Lawrence overcame a 27-0 deficit in his first playoff start, before falling to the Chiefs in the next round.

Tagovailoa’s first playoff start wasn’t pretty, as he was forced to suit up in one of the coldest games in NFL history, before the Dolphins went out with a whimper against KC.

What also makes things tricky for Miami, is that they recently signed Jaylen Waddle to an extension and Tyreek Hill is also reportedly seeking a new contract in light of the massive wide receiver deals we’ve seen this offseason.

The Dolphins likely would’ve been more comfortable paying Tua if they had finished stronger last season, and/or if they put up a better outing in their wildcard round loss to the Chiefs.


Odds are, the Dolphins and Tagovailoa will reach an agreement before the season starts. The team’s main concerns will be Tua’s health and his ability to elevate the team from playoff contenders to legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Source: Tom Pelissero

All stats are courtesy of Pro Football Reference. All salary and contract info courtesy of Spotrac.

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