Dolphins, QB Tua Tagovailoa reach 4-year, $212.4M extension

MIAMI — The Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa have agreed to a four-year, $212.4 million extension, the most important in franchise historical past, his company advised ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday.

The $53.1 million common annual worth of the contract briefly positioned Tagovailoa third among the many NFL’s highest-paid quarterbacks, behind the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ Trevor Lawrence and Cincinnati Bengals‘ Joe Burrow, earlier than the Green Bay Packers and Jordan Love reached agreement on a deal hours later that matched Lawrence and Burrow at $55 million in common per 12 months.

Tagovailoa’s deal consists of $167 million assured, eighth most amongst quarterbacks.

Miami is the one workforce within the NFL with three offensive talent gamers making at the least $70 million in assured cash — large receivers Tyreek Hill ($72.2 million) and Jaylen Waddle ($71.6 million) being the others. Their mixed $310.8 million assured is the third most for any offensive talent trio (QB, RB, WR, TE), in line with Roster Administration System.

The settlement ends a “fluid” first two days of training camp, throughout which Tagovailoa was a restricted participant or nonparticipant. He practiced in full through the workforce’s third coaching camp observe Friday, hours earlier than information of the extension broke.

Either side had been negotiating a deal because the 2023 season ended, and the workforce stored constant communication with Tagovailoa’s representatives at Athletes First.

Tagovailoa was the third quarterback to succeed in an extension this offseason, following the Detroit Lions‘ Jared Goff and Lawrence.

Since Dan Marino retired earlier than the 2000 season, the Dolphins have struggled at quarterback. Twenty-five gamers, together with Tagovailoa, have began at the least one recreation for the Dolphins because the flip of the century. Solely a kind of gamers, 2012 first-round decide Ryan Tannehill, had signed a multiyear extension with the workforce.

The expectation from the start was for Tagovailoa to finish that plight when the Dolphins chosen him at No. 5 in 2020, making him their highest-drafted quarterback since 1980. His profession received off to a modest, then regarding begin; his year-over-year numbers improved in every of his first three seasons, however he additionally missed 9 video games to harm, which included two recognized concussions through the 2022 season.

Tagovailoa turned in a profession 12 months in 2023, nevertheless, main the NFL with 4,624 passing yards and setting a profession excessive with 29 landing passes. He turned the primary Dolphins quarterback to guide the league in passing yards since Marino in 1992, and his whole passing yards had been the third most in a season in Dolphins historical past, behind solely Marino (5,084 yards in 1984; 4,746 in 1986).

Marino’s profession earnings with the Dolphins totaled $51 million, according to OverTheCap.com (not adjusting for inflation).

Tagovailoa performed in each recreation in 2023 for the primary time in his NFL profession en path to being named the AFC’s beginning quarterback in his first Professional Bowl look.

With Tagovailoa now in his third season with Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, Hill and Waddle, the expectations for him are even greater — beginning with profitable the franchise’s first playoff recreation because the 2000 season.

ESPN Stats & Data contributed to this report.