On July 26th, Tua Tagovailoa received a massive four-year, $212.4 million dollar contract extension with the Miami Dolphins. Tagovailoa was drafted by the Dolphins back in 2020 after an outstanding career at Alabama. With battling injuries and inconsistent play his first two seasons, Tua struggled to maintain the starting role for Miami. However, heading into his third year, the team would make a trade that would change everything. The Dolphins would trade for All-pro receiver, Tyreek Hill, in hopes to help Tua’s development. In 2022, Tagovailoa looked like a completely new player. He and Tyreek looked unstoppable together. However, there was a huge problem that he faced, concussions.
Tagovailoa suffered two known concussions in 2022, which really affected his play and his availability. He would suffer his second concussion on Christmas day, which would take him out for the rest of the season. Ending a fantastic and promising season. Nonetheless, with Tua’s great performances throughout the year, the Dolphins still managed to sneak into the playoffs, where the team would lose in the first round. Despite the head trauma, Tagovailoa’s future looked very bright in Miami. Heading into the 2023 season, Tua was under immense pressure as fans anticipated a productive and full season from him, something Tua had yet to accomplish in his career.
This past season, Tua did those two things. The former first-round pick finished first in passing yards and fifth in passing touchdowns, and most importantly, played a full seventeen games. The Dolphins would also make history, as the team would beat the Broncos in week 3, 20-70. Which was the first time a team scored 70 points since 1966. With all of this production, The Dolphins would make the playoffs for the second straight year. However, the team would lose in a very cold wild card matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Going into this offseason, Tua was on pace to play on his fifth-year option and was due an extension by the Dolphins. With the ever-increasing quarterback market, it would be a hard to predict how much the Dolphins would want to pay a quarterback who has only played one full season. With zero playoff success and injuries still being a possibility, many fans were conflicted on how much his extension would be worth. And on July 26th, those questions were answered. Tua would sign a four-year extension which makes him the fourth highest-paid quarterback in the league and the Dolphins starter for the next five years. Like him or not, Tagovailoa is a good quarterback who deserves to be paid well.