Jordan Love, Dak Prescott and Tua Tagovailoa represent the subsequent set of dominoes expected to fall inside the quarterback market this summer, with the Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence deals providing early road maps for the Packers, Cowboys and Dolphins. As of now, Miami doesn’t look like comfortable with where the market has gone.
Tagovailoa alluded to progress being made earlier this month while also reminding where the QB market has gone, perhaps sending a message to the Dolphins regarding his value following the extensions for Goff ($53MM per yr) and Lawrence (record-tying $55MM AAV). It looks like all progress between the Dolphins and their QB has stalled, with ESPN.com’s Jeff Darlington indicating during an NFL Live appearance (h/t Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald) the team has not offered a deal in line with those the Lions and Jaguars proposed to their top passers.
The Dolphins having yet to supply a market-value extension, per Darlington, definitely introduces a speedbump in these talks. But Tagovailoa turned down no less than one offer from the team earlier this offseason. The edges are still working toward a middle ground, but given the shape (when healthy) the previous No. 5 overall pick has shown, it’s difficult to see him accepting an extension south of where the Jags went for Lawrence. The latter’s prospect pedigree and growth potential aside, Tua has fared higher — albeit with superior weaponry — over the past two seasons.
Miami not being on the Goff or Lawrence level with Tagovailoa doesn’t surprise Kelly, who indicates the team is “dug in” regarding the southpaw arm’s value. This definitely creates the potential for a standoff, because the Dolphins — resulting from Tua’s uneven first three seasons — already dragged this process right into a contract yr, a spot teams rarely go along with first-round passers on rookie deals. The parties have been negotiating since mid-April.
The Dolphins joining the Ravens in not extending their starter after Yr 3 — when these deals often move past the goal line for first-rounders — preceded a reasonably promising season from the Alabama alum. Tagovailoa led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards and threw 29 TD passes, though 14 INTs got here together with those. Tagovailoa ranked third in QBR during his concussion-marred 2022 slate and tenth last season, when he played 17 games and took the snaps in Miami’s one-sided wild-card loss.
Taking a hardline stance with Tua runs the chance of the Dolphins having their quarterback move toward a 2025 franchise tag. Considering this yr’s QB tag price ($38.3MM), that just about doubles as a weapon for Tagovailoa given the cap hold a 2025 tag would create for a Dolphins team that handled cap issues this offseason. The Dolphins, who prolonged Jaylen Waddle recently and appear open to revising Tyreek Hill‘s contract, are projected to be — albeit several months away from the cap-compliance deadline — $9MM-plus over the 2025 cap with none Tua money factoring into that number.
The arrivals of Hill and Mike McDaniel have undoubtedly played major roles in Tagovailoa’s emergence, however the latter proving himself a productive quarterback through his age-25 season obviously creates considerable leverage. The playoff starter missed several Dolphins offseason workouts resulting from his contract situation, though he showed up midway through Miami’s program. It can be interesting to see how far apart the edges are, as greater than two months still remain until Week 1.
