Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is in the midst of contract negotiations with the franchise and has certainly taken notice of the recent deals other quarterbacks are landing.
“I’m not blind to, to people that, you know, are in my position that are getting paid,” he said Tuesday in a news conference at Dolphins minicamp.
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But Tagovailoa said that he isn’t concerned about the status of his own negotiations.
“There’s a lot of discussion that we’ve had. … We just are trying to move that thing into the right direction where we can both be happy,” Tagovailoa said.
Tagovailoa added that he felt there’s been progress toward an agreement from where the two sides initially were.
“Now, you know, you can ask the other question and why aren’t we seeing, you know, an agreement,” Tagovailoa said. “Well, that’s the tough part about it. That’s why it’s business. That’s why you got one side and the other trying to work to, to meet the middle.”
Tagovailoa was in the building for the start of organized team activities after skipping much of the voluntary offseason work in protest of the stalled contract discussions.
The 26-year-old quarterback is under contract through next season and is set to play under a $23.17 million, fifth-year option if the two sides can’t come to an extension.
It only seems like it’s a matter of when, not if a deal occurs for Tagovailoa and the Dolphins, though.
Last season, the left-handed passer threw for 4,624 yards with 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions leading Miami to an 11-6 record. Here’s a glimpse of where Tagovailoa has stacked up in the past two seasons (with the help of TruMedia, Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions):
- Expected Points Added (EPA) per dropback
- Passer rating
- Total QB EPA
- On-target percentage
- Catchable-pass percentage
Rankings are in parentheses in the EPA charts, and in the box next to the rates in the on-target and catchable-pass percentage charts. Those rankings are for individual seasons the past two years. Qualified passers attempted a minimum of 100 passes in each season.
EPA metrics
| Year | player | EPA/DB | Psr Rt | Total EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | 0.18 (5) | 105.5 (4) | 69.4 (9) | |
2023 | 0.15 (8) | 101.1 (10) | 60.7 (12) |
On-target/catchable percentages
| Year | Player | ONT% | Rank | Ctch% | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | 73.1 | 48 | 87.5 | 22 | |
2023 | 73.8 | 41 | 86.6 | 28 |
A lot of green throughout the EPA graphic for Tagovailoa. You just wish his monster EPA games had occurred against the league’s top competition. Instead, the Dolphins typically feast on inferior teams and not as much when facing playoff-caliber opponents. Still, all of this should point to a lucrative long-term extension at some point for the Dolphins QB.
Required reading
- ‘It’s terrible’: Players, coaches, execs react to NFLPA’s proposal to reshape offseason
- What to watch at NFL minicamps: Potential holdouts, Kirk Cousins comeback, 5 early QB battles
- Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle agrees to 3-year, $84.75 million extension: Source
(Photo: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)
