Tua Tagovailoa contract talks: Dolphins not offering deal in Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence ballpark, per report

26/06/2024

Tua Tagovailoa admitted this spring that he's growing impatient over contract negotiations with the Miami Dolphins. One reason for the holdup on a potential long-term deal: The Dolphins have yet to offer the Pro Bowl quarterback a deal comparable to extensions recently signed by the Detroit Lions' Jared Goff and Jacksonville Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence, according to ESPN.

"This is complicated," Jeff Darlington reported on "NFL Live" this week. "I'm not saying that it won't get done ... but right now there's five words that are looming over this contract negotiation, and they're the words that came out of Tua's mouth: 'The market is the market.' ... Right now, the Dolphins are not offering the contract that is the market value, based on those other deals that were done. ... We're not to panic point just yet ... (But the Dolphins) are not in the Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence ballpark."

For reference, Goff signed a four-year, $212 million extension (averaging $53 million per year) with the Lions in May. Lawrence then landed a five-year, $275 million deal (averaging $55 million per year) with the Jaguars earlier this month. Only the Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow earns as much or more per season, reportedly prompting private discussions among NFL owners about the possibility of a future quarterback salary cap.

Tagovailoa, who led the NFL in passing yards in 2023, is due $23 million in 2024, the final season of his rookie contract. He was in and out of Miami's voluntary offseason programming before reporting for mandatory minicamp, though he wouldn't confirm earliert his month if his absences were contract-related. Tagovailoa did speak clearly about his desire to "get something done" on the contract front, however.

"I'm not blind to the people that are in my position that are getting paid," Tagovailoa told reporters at minicamp. "Am I concerned about it? I'm not concerned about it. But there's a lot of discussion that we've had that we are just trying to move that thing into the right direction where we can both be happy. ... I think there's been a lot of progress at this point, from where we started. Now, you can ask the other question: Why aren't we seeing an agreement? ... I'll tell you one thing: The market is the market."

Drafted fifth overall by the Dolphins in 2020, Tagovailoa has recently been one of the NFL's most productive passers when healthy, garnering MVP consideration in each of the last two seasons. He's appeared in just one career postseason game, however, and struggled more against playoff-level opponents in 2023, one year after missing four weeks due to multiple concussions.

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