Chris Perkins: Dolphins might not get the same Tua if he plays on a one-year deal

Here’s another wrinkle to my thoughts on Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his contract extension — I wonder whether Tua would play with the same zeal and aggression this season if he’s on his fifth-year extension, which is basically a one-year deal?

I probably wouldn’t.

Few would.

It seems natural to pull back a bit physically, at select times, in order to protect yourself and your cash flow.

Would you jeopardize a likely $200 million payday?

I don’t doubt Tua’s integrity or competitiveness. I acknowledge his common sense.

This is where the Dolphins’ best interest clashes with reality.

Another phase of that clash could surface with this week’s three-day round of voluntary OTAs (Organized Team Activities).

We’ll see whether Tua fully participates, exposing himself to a small injury risk, or whether he comes up with a reason not to fully participate, thereby decreasing his injury risk and simultaneously making a statement about his contract situation.

As a reminder, Tua missed at least one day of last week’s OTAs while playing in a charity golf tournament for his college coach, ex-Alabama coach Nick Saban. We also know Tua has opted to miss part of the voluntary offseason program while working with his private quarterback coach.

Numerous players around the NFL — Pittsburgh defensive lineman Cam Heyward, Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson, among them — are sitting out parts of their teams’ OTAs, presumably making statements about their contract situations.

Regardless, I still think it’s in the Dolphins’ best interest to have Tua play this season on his fifth-year extension, thus proving he can stay reasonably healthy again and that he can take his game to another level.

My problem with a Tua contract extension, or almost any quarterback extension, as I’ve written several times, is what percentage of the salary cap he takes.

This isn’t about Tua, it’s about re-setting the quarterback market to a sensible standard.

For the most part, I think quarterbacks taking 20% or more of the salary cap, which is the current quarterback extension trend, is ridiculous. For most quarterbacks, it’s way too much money. Put another way, they’re overpaid. They’re not that good. Beyond that, to a large extent, it restricts the team’s ability to add the talent required to win a Super Bowl.

There are 10 quarterbacks who take at least 20% of their team’s salary cap, according to Spotrac.com, starting with recently-signed Detroit quarterback Jared Goff (20.7%) and capping with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow (24.4%).

Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes is No. 5, by the way, at 22.7%. He’s worth that and more. Everybody else is taking too much of their team’s salary cap. Period.

But back to Tua…

If he’s essentially playing this season in the final year of his contract, would the Dolphins get the same effort from Tua as they’d get if he was in the first-year of a multi-year deal that offered him the long-term financial security he’s seeking?

I’m not talking about Tua deciding not to scramble. That decision was largely made after he sustained multiple concussions.

I’m talking about, say, Tua not attempting the 15-yard pass outside the numbers as often if he feels a small twinge in his throwing elbow. That’s a business decision similar to a cornerback not tackling hulking running back Derrick Henry head-on in the fourth quarter when trailing by 17 points.

Why take the injury risk?

You’ll recall that Tua is someone with a well-documented injury history.

And all Tua has to do is look in front of him, at center Connor Williams, who blew out his knee last season in the final year of his contract, to know what could possibly/realistically happen. Williams remains unsigned.

Tua is a smart guy.

He can look in his locker room and around the league to see the risk of playing in the final year of your contract.

The concern, of course, is the Dolphins need a fully-engaged Tua.

After all, this should be the Dolphins’ best offense under Tua and coach Mike McDaniel.

No excuses.

The Dolphins have a legit No. 3 receiver, a stack of running backs, depth at tight end, and three returning starters from an offensive line that played pretty well in 2023.

Oh, and the quarterback, starting wide receivers and play-caller are all regarded among the best in the league at their jobs.

Offensive expectations, in the third year under Tua and McDaniel, are sky high.

And this year, no one is grading on a curve because the road games turned out to be tougher than originally thought, or the Dolphins played more games in cold weather than anyone originally thought, or anything else.

The Dolphins need Tua to be fully engaged.

It’s essential.

A long-term deal would probably help.

Having said that, none of this changes my mind.

Tua shouldn’t get a contract extension until after the season.

Such a situation would probably put me in self-preservation/business mode.

If Tua doesn’t get a contract extension before the season opener in September, I wonder whether self preservation, or business decisions, would surface this season.