INDIANAPOLIS — Tua Tagovailoa is well one of many NFL’s 13 greatest quarterbacks. The Miami Dolphins shouldn’t be afraid to pay him prefer it.
Meaning the Dolphins ought to choose up his fifth-year possibility — and never suppose twice about it.
Miami Dolphins Ought to Decide Up Tua Tagovailoa’s Fifth-Yr Possibility
They presumably are pondering twice about it, nonetheless.
The Dolphins have but to activate stated possibility, which is absolutely assured. And with two months till the deadline, they appear to be in no nice rush to take action.
“We’d most likely be greatest served to make the most of the time,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel stated on the NFL Scouting Mix right here Tuesday. “That’s form of the best way we’re approaching it. That doesn’t imply that we’re spending lengthy durations of time not discussing it. That is one thing that Chris [Grier] and I’ve been working by means of, and we are going to proceed to work by means of.”
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Grier, the Dolphins normal supervisor, stated this about Tagovailoa and the fifth-year possibility in January:
“He’s our beginning quarterback. I don’t know the way let’s imagine it any extra clearly. … [We’ve] labored with and speaking with the docs and consultants and everybody we handled, we absolutely count on him again subsequent 12 months 100% able to go, after which we’ll get by means of all these selections like I stated, identical to we discuss each participant on the roster.
“Clearly, I perceive as a result of it’s Tua, and that’s why the query is being requested. We’ll undergo our course of, however he’s our beginning quarterback and will likely be subsequent season.”
Tua Tagovailoa’s Fifth-Yr Possibility Is Really Nice Worth
Tagovailoa deserves the help. He had a breakthrough season in 2022, main the NFL in passer score (105.5) in his first season with McDaniel as his coach.
And with McDaniel calling performs and Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle below contract for the foreseeable future, there’s little cause to suppose Tua could have an enormous regression.
His stats have been so spectacular in 2022 — he additionally led the NFL in landing fee (6.3%), yards per try (8.9), adjusted yards per try (9.2), internet yards per try (8.0), adjusted internet yards per try (8.4) and yards per completion (13.7) — that Spotrac lists his calculated market worth at $39.7 million.
That’s practically double what he would earn below the fifth-year possibility ($23.2 million, which might put him outdoors the highest 10 in QB wage) in 2024. What’s extra, exercising that clause would permit the Dolphins to manage his rights for six years (together with the franchise tag) at an estimated complete compensation of roughly $100 million.
That’s unimaginable worth for even a third-tier quarterback, and Tagovailoa proved in 2022 he’s much better than that.
It makes a lot sense that it’s a surprise the Dolphins haven’t accomplished it but.
Granted, there are arguments in opposition to not activating that possibility. They’re simply not notably compelling.
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One argument is that Tagovailoa’s 2022 season was a fluke, and he’ll regress to the imply in 2023 — and past. However with that scheme, the expertise surrounding him, and McDaniel’s ever-sunny disposition boosting his confidence, that appears extremely unlikely.
Actually, Tua may take a smaller step again in 2023, however even when he does and the Dolphins need to transfer on, there’ll completely be a crew prepared to half with a late-round draft choose to take a one-year gamble on Tua, contemplating how little (comparably) he’ll value them in wage.
The opposite argument? He’s just too brittle to provide any assured cash to. Tagovailoa has missed 10 video games attributable to damage in his first three NFL seasons and suffered not less than two concussions in 2022.
But when the Dolphins had that concern, they’d not have been as strident of their protection of his long-term well being outlook after the season ended. They usually most likely wouldn’t have absolutely dedicated to him in any respect in 2023.
“I believe, like every other participant, you think about each variable,” McDaniel stated Tuesday. “I believe one factor that, while you’re speaking about these varieties of selections, it’s vital to acknowledge that we now have a congruence of pursuits by the Dolphins and the participant, Tua, that each events actually need him to play at a really excessive degree for a really very long time for the Miami Dolphins. What’s the easiest way to actually engineer that or to assist manifest that?
“These are the issues that we’re form of weighing, when it comes to the assorted choices, with the identical desired finish as Tua would really like. You think about all the things the very best you possibly can. That’s a part of this sport that we’re all concerned in. There’s some unknowns. You weigh these, you press ahead, and also you make the very best choice for the group.”
