Tua Tagovailoa’s resolve to get a new contract this offseason has apparently stiffened. The QB has sat out much of the Miami Dolphins’ offseason program.
TheĀ Miami Dolphinsā social media staff usually cannot go a few days without posting a picture or video clip of Tua Tagovailoa ā especially during the season or when the team is practicing.
But the last time they tweeted any content that featured Tagovailoa doing actual football activities? A month ago, at the start of the teamās offseason program.
Is Tua Tagovailoa Skipping Miami Dolphinsā Offseason Program?
Thereās a reason for that hiatus, and it was revealed Friday: Tagovailoa has skipped much of that voluntary work, presumably in protest of his stalled contract extension talks,Ā CBS Sports first reported. Pro Football Network has since confirmed the basics of that report.
Tagovailoaās decision to skip big chunks of the offseason program ā which for now has consisted of just meetings, conditioning, and light on-field work ā stands in stark contrast to his behavior his first four seasons when he was a regular attendee.
Aside from last weekās rookie minicamp, Dolphins practices have been closed to the media.
But that changes next week, with the start of OTAs. Reporters will have the opportunity to watch up to five practices over the next three weeks. And if Tagovailoa skips OTAs ā which are optional ā itāll be a reversal of what he said his plans were when he spoke with reporters last month.
āJust letting my agent deal with that and talk to the team about that,āĀ Tagovailoa said. āFor me, my focus is when OTAs come like, hey, you know, go to OTAs, show up, and be the best teammate that I can be.ā
The Dolphins surely would prefer their starting quarterback be around as much as possible, but they have no recourse until mandatory minicamps arrive the first week in June.
Should Tagovailoa, who is due to earn just over $23 million under the fifth-year option this year, skip those, he is subject to a fine.
Miami is determined not to negotiate what is expected to be a massive extension ā which would make Tagovailoa one of the highest-paid players in the sportās history ā in the media.
But when Dolphins general manager Chris Grier last addressed the matter before theĀ NFL Draft, he seemed to suggest the team wouldnāt force a timeline to get a deal done.
āI think itās something that when it happens, it happens,āĀ Grier said. āWeāve had communication with him and Iāll just leave those between the organization and his representation, and itās been good so weāll just keep working towards it. Him and his agent are very understanding that this is now the draft, so heās letting us focus on that and then weāll turn our attention to that after the draft finishes.ā
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The draft was three weeks ago, and since then, Tagovailoaās leverage has only grown.
Itās hard to envision him taking anything less than the $212 million over four years (including $170 million guaranteed) that the Detroit LionsĀ just pledged to Jared Goff.
In Goffās three years with the Lions, heās completed 66.5% of his passes with 78 touchdowns, 27 interceptions, 7.3 yards per attempt, and a 96.5 passer rating.
In Tagovailoaās two seasons with Mike McDaniel as his head coach, he has completed 67.4% of his passes with 54 touchdowns, 22 interceptions, 8.5 yards per attempt, and a 102.9 rating.
Tua led theĀ NFLĀ in passing yards in 2023 (4,624). Goff was second with 4,575.
Goff was in the final year of his contract when the Lions decided to extend him. Tagovailoa likewise will be aĀ free agentĀ in March if the Dolphins donāt extend or franchise him.
Tagovailoaās teammates seemingly have his back.
After a round of golf with Tagovailoa last week, Jalen Ramsey posted a photo of the scorecards to social media. Beneath the scores, a message scrawled in pencil:
āPAY TUA!!!!!ā