Tua Tagovailoa contract: Dolphins, QB reach four-year, $212.4 million extension with $167 million guaranteed
First came Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions, then Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now, Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins has become the most recent quarterback to get paid this offseason. The market continues to boom, as the Dolphins gave their signal-caller a four-year, $212.4 million extension with $167 million in guarantees on Friday, CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones confirms.
Tagovailoa’s new AAV of $53.1 million makes him the third-highest paid quarterback in the NFL behind Lawrence and Joe Burrow. That $53.1 million number is a record for the most money averaged in a four-year contract, and of course is the largest contract in Dolphins franchise history.
Highest-paid QBs in the NFL
(via Over The Cap)
Trevor Lawrence | $55 million | $275 million |
Joe Burrow | $55 million | $275 million |
Tua Tagovailoa | $53.1 million | $212.4 million |
Jared Goff | $53 million | $212 million |
Justin Herbert | $52.5 million | $262.5 million |
Tagovailoa, who turned 26 in March, was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Alabama. He is 32-19 as the Dolphins’ starter and made the Pro Bowl last season after leading the league in passing yards. Tagovailoa was also the NFL’s passer rating leader in 2022. He’s improved upon his games won as starter, passing yards and touchdowns thrown in each NFL season, and now, Miami is tying itself to him for the next four years.
Tagovailoa announced his contract news himself with a video on social media:
In 2023, Tagovailoa completed a career-high 69.3% of his passes, became the first Dolphins quarterback to lead the NFL in passing since Dan Marino with 4,624 yards and threw a career-high 29 touchdowns. However, Miami did struggle with stiff competition this past year. Tagovailoa went 1-5 against eventual playoff teams in the regular season, and then threw for 199 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the 26-7 wild-card loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. In his career, Tagovailoa is 6-14 vs. playoff teams. Still, there’s no doubt that he has improved each season.
The hiring of head coach Mike McDaniel has been beneficial for Tagovailoa, as has been the acquisition of star pass-catcher Tyreek Hill. The former Chief has finished inside the top two of receiving yards in both of his seasons with the Dolphins.
The next quarterbacks up for big extensions are likely Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers, and Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys.
