The Miami Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa have agreed to terms on a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The deal was expected to be worth $50 million per season, Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson reported in late April. Tagovailoa’s extension puts him at $53.1 million per season, which is slightly less than the $55 million quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence make annually on their respective deals.
Still, according to Rapoport, it is The biggest agreement in four years in NFL history, with $167.1 million guaranteed.
He #Dolphins And their QB Tua Tagovailoa have a deal!
Sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo They have agreed to a 4-year, $212.4 million contract extension to secure him for the long term. Finally, Miami’s franchise quarterback is getting his rightful salary. image.twitter.com/rW5sTJzBQo
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 26, 2024
Tagovailoa, 26, was a very limited participant Tagovailoa participated in the first practice of training camp on Wednesday and did not participate in individual or team drills on Thursday as contract negotiations with the Dolphins were ongoing. Head coach Mike McDaniel’s expectation was for Tagovailoa to participate more in practice on Friday.
“I think it’s important to recognize that Tua is in the middle of a contract negotiation,” McDaniel told reporters, via DolphinsWire. “That’s important for him and for the football team. That being said, we communicate very well and it’s very fluid, we take it day by day. Today, I expect it to be something like organized team activities and we’ll move forward from there.”
During organized team activities, Tagovailoa participated in individual and 7-on-7 drills, but did not participate in 11-on-11 drills. Now that a deal has been reached, his full participation is likely no longer in doubt and last season’s top-ranked offense can get back to work as a whole.
The Dolphins are ranked No. 12 in Yahoo Sports’ power rankings heading into the 2024 season. In his evaluation of the quarterback, Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab wrote:
Tua Tagovailoa was robbed of the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. It’s easy to forget that last offseason, a common conversation centered on Tagovailoa’s concussions and his future (the Dolphins preview last season focused on Tagovailoa’s health issues). Tagovailoa said he considered retiring, but he came back and played at a near-MVP level. Isn’t that a better comeback story than Joe Flacco and his five starts? Regardless of how awful that award is voted on, Tagovailoa had a season that deserved to be celebrated.
Tagovailoa led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards. He had 29 touchdowns and a passer rating of 101.1. Tagovailoa’s career passer rating of 97.1 is tied for 12th all-time Among qualified passers, just ahead of Steve Young and Peyton Manning. Even if passer rating isn’t a great statistic to compare quarterbacks from different eras, Tagovailoa has become a remarkably productive passer. He was in the MVP conversation for most of last season, and justifiably so. He won’t get the credit he’s earned because many analysts don’t like to backtrack on their opinions, and the narrative about Tagovailoa early in his career was that he was a terrible pick ahead of Justin Herbert. But a career comparison to Herbert is now a lot closer than one might believe.
“We believe strongly in him,” Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said. saying.”
Last season was Tagovailoa’s best of his four NFL seasons since the Dolphins selected him No. 5 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. His performance helped Miami rank as the NFL’s top offense, averaging 401.3 yards per game.
