Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is believed to be next in line to receive a major contract extension, but it sounds like he won’t be paid as much as some of the other signal-callers who received new deals this offseason like Detroit Lions veteran Jared Goff and Jacksonville Jaguars starter Trevor Lawrence.
Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald followed up a report by ESPN’s Jeff Darlington on Tuesday’s episode of NFL Live by stating that the Dolphins “are dug into their position that they will not pay” Tagovailoa “a Goff-esque contract rate.” The Lions signed Goff to a four-year, $212 million extension with an average annual value of $53 million.
Darlington explained in his report that Tagovailoa made it clear that “the market is the market,” but he said that after Goff’s deal and before Lawrence was signed to a whopping five-year, $275 million extension that tied him with Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow for the highest annual salary in the league at $55 million. While Miami had some flexibility in negotiations in the wake of Goff’s deal, Lawrence’s deal created a new benchmark that Tagovailoa will be eyeing.
Darlington noted, “Right now, the Dolphins are not offering the contract that is the market value based on those other deals that were done.” He added that neither side has reached a panic point as of yet, but there’s a clear divide in negotiations because Miami’s offer is “not in the Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence ballpark.”
Tagovailoa is coming off a stellar 2023 season in which he was an MVP candidate for much of the year and led the league with 4,624 passing yards while adding a career-high 29 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. He completed a career-best 69.3 percent of his passes. He is set to make $23.2 million in the final year of his rookie contract.
It would be a massive surprise if the Dolphins don’t try to lock up Tagovailoa with a long-term deal, as he’s one of the most talented young quarterbacks in the league. However, it appears that the team is not trying to break the bank with a contract extension that would force it to limit spending in other areas.