Tua Is '100 Percent' Team Jonnu

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa didn’t mince words when asked about whether one of the team’s premier playmakers should get a new contract. 

“Oh, 100%. That’s my guy,” Tua said when asked about Jonnu Smith’s contract situation. “Jonnu has done really good for us, so you don’t have anything bad to say about him. And, I mean, I love him as a person, too. I think all our guys that do what they need to do should get paid.” 

Smith is one of two Dolphins players who have been the subject of trade discussions in recent weeks and will not attend mandatory minicamp this week (Jalen Ramsey is the other). 

Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned the two sides are “on the same page,” but did not specifically say Smith’s absence was excused, meaning he could be fined. 

Smith is currently the NFL’s 32nd-highest-paid tight end by average annual value and is coming off a season that saw him break the franchise record for catches and yards by a tight end. His wanting a new contract isn’t surprising, and he’s clearly talented enough to warrant it. 

Tua Has Been Down This Road 

The quarterback’s tone around contract talk has changed this offseason. During last year’s minicamp, Tua was going through his own contract negotiations and his minicamp media session didn't have the lighthearted feel of the session Tuesday.

However, that experience has given him some perspective on how Jonnu’s situation might be going. 

“I look at it as the conversations between the team and their agent. Not between me and the team,” Tua said. “There are a lot of things that are going to happen throughout that process, and if you really tap into listening to what your agent is gonna tell you or what they’re gonna say. 

“First off, you don’t really know if they’re telling you the truth, still, even if you’re paying them. You don’t know what side they’re playing. Do they wanna please you? Are they telling you the truth, all of that? It’s one of those things where all you can do is work. You let those guys handle the business, and if it sounds right to you when it comes back, then it sounds right.” 

Simply put, Tua understands that any contract negotiation will have a lot of moving parts for the player involved. In Jonnu’s case, the public communication from his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is that Smith wants to stay in Miami. 

Why Jonnu Makes Tua Better 

Looking past the obvious, any quarterback would want a player who produced like Jonnu Smith did last season on their team, but the Pro Bowl tight end fills an important niche role in the offense. 

Last season, defenses backed off the Dolphins’ receivers at an alarming rate. The team saw the most amount of two-high safety defenses by a comfortable amount, leaving a lot of room in the short middle of the field. 

Although it reached unsustainable levels last season, the Dolphins had struggled to capitalize on those chances before signing Smith last offseason. Of his catches last season, 26.1 percent came with air yards behind the line of scrimmage. However, Smith averaged 9.8 yards after the catch on those receptions. 

Smith ate up a lot of easy yards on manufactured touches and short routes.

A player with that profile makes the quarterback’s job significantly easier. If Tua knows the defense is going to put a roof over the offense, having confidence that dumping the ball off to Smith will keep the offense on schedule is a big deal. 

It takes the pressure off of Tua to force the ball into downfield coverage to create meaningful gains. Several of his interceptions in previous seasons were the product of being frustrated by not hitting big plays downfield. 

Those mostly went away last season, and Smith deserves some of the credit for that. 

Other players can fill Smith’s role in the offense, and his prototype at tight end probably isn’t in Miami’s long-term plans, but the Dolphins won’t find someone better than Smith for this season. 

Tua going to bat for a player that made his life much easier makes all the sense in the world, and it’s a pretty good argument for why the Dolphins should try to work something out with Smith, at least for 2025. 

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