Tua Tagovailoa eager to help Dolphins end playoff drought after signing extension

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — His new contract signed, Tua Tagovailoa acknowledged the heightened expectations tied to its value.

The Miami Dolphins’ fifth-year quarterback will no longer need to worry about his future with the club after he signed a four-year extension on Sunday. The deal will pay Tagovailoa an average of $53.1 million per year beginning next season. He also received a $42 million signing bonus.

“Now that all of this is done and this is behind us, we know that heavy is the crown,” Tagovailoa said. “Whoever is wearing that, right now, I’m the highest-paid employee in this office. I’ve to get my —whatever — together. I’ve got to get that right and moving the guys in the direction that we need to go.”

The deal ended months of negotiations and questions about whether the Dolphins would make a long-term investment in Tagovailoa.

After being the fifth overall selection in the 2020 draft, Tagovailoa has experienced peaks and valleys. As a result, Dolphins management took longer to entrust Tagovailoa with an extension than Cincinnati did with Joe Burrow or the Los Angeles Chargers with Justin Herbert. Those two QBs were picked along with Tagovailoa in the first round of the 2020 draft.

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“There are just so many semantics and hoops that you have to go through to get something like that done, especially maneuvering other contracts around,” Tagovailoa said. “I’m happy that we got this thing done. It’s unbelievable.”

Dolphins fans were allowed to attend workouts for the first time in the 2024 training camp schedule on Sunday, and Tagovailoa greeted them with the catchphrase “Show me the money” from the 1996 movie “Jerry Maguire.”

“Somebody told me that I wouldn’t say it,” Tagovailoa said.

Tagovailoa overcame a difficult 2022 season, when a concussion sidelined him for four regular-season games and a playoff loss against Buffalo. He played in all 17 games last season and threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards.

“My perspective — happy but also expected it to get done,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “And now that it’s done it’s about moving forward because maybe it’s a handshake and a smile but not a celebration. It’s a cool point for the organization to move forward and moving forward we are.”

McDaniel has been arguably Tagovailoa’s biggest supporter since he took over in 2022. With McDaniel devising schemes to suit Tagovailoa’s skills, the Dolphins averaged a league-best 401 yards per game last season.

“Word gets around quick and I don’t think he knows that I know. I’ve been told from several birdies that are here in the facility that are upstairs as well that he went to bat for me,” Tagovailoa said of McDaniel’s role in the negotiations.

The Tagovailoa-McDaniel link will face added scrutiny, especially with the Dolphins’ lengthy drought of postseason success. Miami’s wild-card round loss at Kansas City last season extended to 24 years its gap between playoff wins.

“We haven’t won the games we wanted to win, deep into the playoffs and win the games that matter,” Tagovailoa said. “I could have had the worst passing rating and threw for a thousand yards but if we were in those games and winning those games, and we got to go and win the championship, I would trade all of that.”

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