Tua Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback, reported to the team’s training facility when the offseason training program began in April. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, that may be the limit of Tagovailoa’s offseason activities after being selected to his first Pro Bowl.
“Tagovailoa has been absent for the large majority of voluntary offseason work since the Dolphins reported back April15,” Jones wrote on Friday morning. Tagovailoa has previously participated fully in the offseason training regimen. The Dolphins included the quarterback in a collage of photographs from the team’s early offseason sessions, making a post on X on April 19:
Tagovailoa is entering his fifth year in the league after Miami selected fifth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Dolphins exercised the fifth-year option in Tagovailoa’s rookie contract last year, keeping him with the team through the 2024 season. The team is believed to be working on a contract extension for Tagovailoa, but they could fall back to using the franchise tag next offseason to keep him with the team for at least a sixth season.
“I think it’s something that when it happens, it happens,” Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said of the contract negotiations with Tagovailoa on April 16. “We’ve had communication with him and I’ll just leave those between the organization and his representation, and it’s been good so we’ll just keep working towards it. Him and his agent are very understanding that this is now the draft, so he’s letting us focus on that and then we’ll turn our attention to that after the draft finishes.”
Head coach Mike McDaniel, on March 25, spoke about Tagovailoa, the contract negotiations, and the likelihood of Tagovailoa participating in the offseason program. He explained, “The contract and contract negotiations, those things take time. I do expect Tua to be in OTAs only because my working relationship with Tua. For two years, I’ve watched Tua gain some unbelievable residuals towards the season in that process. It’s part of the reason Tua is who he is because he’s always learning, never staying the same and always working on his craft. I know the one thing that he likes to do now in his life, besides be a kick ass dad to Ace and Maizy, is play football with his teammates. That’s what I expect. I don’t really put too much thought beyond that. I understand the business, but I also understand my job with Tua is to make sure that his football is continuing to evolve and the best days are in front of him, which are both of our goals.”
Under the NFL and NFL Players Association collective bargaining agreement, the offseason training program is primarily a voluntary period for the player, with no disciplinary actions authorized if a player chooses not to show. Teams may hold one mandatory event, a minicamp, late in the program. The mandatory minicamp will be held June 4-6 for the Dolphins. The team could fine any player who does not report for the minicamp.
The fifth-year option will pay Tagovailoa a fully guaranteed $23.17 million this season. A new contract would likely pay Tagovailoa around $50 million per season. The Detroit Lions and quarterback Jared Goff agreed this week on a new four-year, $212 million contract with $113.6 million fully guaranteed and an additional $57 million in injury guarantees. Goff’s contract has a $53 million per season average, second behind the Cincinnati Bengals’ deal with Joe Burrow ($55 million per year).
Tagovailoa skipping the workouts could be a sign that he is growing frustrated with the negotiations on a long-term contract extension.
In four seasons with the Dolphins, Tagovailoa has thrown for 12,639 yards with a 66.9 percent completion rate, 81 touchdowns, 37 interceptions, and a career passer rating of 97.1. He led the league in passer rating in 2022 with a 105.5. Last year, he threw for a league-high 4,624 yards, earning the start at the league’s all-star Pro Bowl Games event.
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