Love him or hate him - and there are PLENTY of both among the Miami fanbase - Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
With his fifth-year option exercised last year and with the Dolphins releasing expensive players or letting them walk in free agency as they did with Christian Wilkins and Robert Hunt - or refusing to take on any big new contracts in free agency - it's pretty clear the team has been working to keep Tagovailoa in town for the long haul. It was just a matter of when that bridge of an extension was crossed this offseason by Dolphins management and Tua.
According to ESPN senior NFL writer Jeremy Fowler on Sportscenter on Sunday morning, that's starting to happen now.
"Negotiations have begun in earnest," Fowler said. "The Dolphins have at least gotten the ball rolling. Typically what happens is a team makes a contract offer, the player counters, and they go from there and see if they can find a sweet spot. The next three months will be crucial. My sense is this has not graduated to something that's imminent, but the Dolphins are pretty committed to this. Their actions this offseason say they're going to pay him. They've scaled back a lot of the big money contracts, cutting players like Xavien Howard.
"So, they want to do this. They wanted Tua to prove that he could have a fully healthy season and produce. He did that. 4600-plus yards. 11 wins. So, this could be the path of least resistance among all of these quarterbacks that get signed in deals around the league." - Jeremy Fowler, ESPN.
Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards last year with 4624 while appearing in all 17 games for the first time in his career and earning his first ever Pro Bowl nod. That's on the heels of 2022, where he appeared in 13 games and led the NFL in passer rating (105.3), yards per attempt (8.9), yards per completion (13.2), and touchdown percentage of his pass attempts (6.3%).
When he's on, and when the offense is healthy, Tua has proven he's a very good starter, whether or not a portion of the fan base chooses to believe it. He's apparently proven enough to Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel to warrant a new contract for the long haul.
We'll see if that process takes up until the preseason to get done.
More must-reads: