Dolphins Rumors: Tua Tagovailoa's Contract Expected to Be Done 'Later This Summer'

An agreement between the Miami Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is expected this summer, according to The Athletic's Dianna Russini.

Tagovailoa is entering the final year of his rookie deal and due to be a free agent in 2025. Spotrac set his market value at $49.6 million annually.

The Dolphins aren't in an enviable position. Their dilemma isn't totally unlike the one the Dallas Cowboys are facing with Dak Prescott. They have a very good quarterback but one who hasn't definitively shown whether he can get them over the top.

Tagovailoa is coming off a 2023 season in which he led the NFL in passing yards (4,624) and earned his first Pro Bowl nod. However, he struggled in frigid conditions in an AFC Wild Card Round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, finishing 20-of-39 for 199 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Tagovailoa's injury record is another factor at play. Last year was the first time he started a full season.

"The general rule of thumb is as players get older, they don't get more durable," a source said to ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques. "Generally speaking, if you've been hurt before, you're going to be hurt again. Tua, to play the entire year this year deserves a ton of credit. I'm just glad I'm not the one that's signing off on paying him."

However, the scarcity of good quarterbacks — and the even smaller group of good QBs who are available in a trade or free agency in a given offseason — makes it tough for a team to turn down a sure thing. Finding an upgrade over Tagovailoa wouldn't be easy.

Louis-Jacques also cited an NFL team executive who pointed to the Dolphins' recent quarterback history as something working against them.

"Miami has struggled since Marino to get a quarterback, right?" the exec said. "So they don't want to go back there. I get it, they whatever 'tanked for Tua' or whatever that was called — they did all that stuff and so they're like, 'Well, I don't want to do all that again to get a guy,' and the agents know they did all that.

"If I'm the agent, I get it. It's just walking that line — where do you come in? Is it $50 [million]? Is it $55 [million] where you're comfortable?"

Paying Tagovailoa $50-plus million annually would obviously be a big risk, but the bigger gamble might be letting him walk and venturing into the unknown under center.