McDaniel Expects Tua to "Prove His Doubters Wrong"

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel gives Tua Tagovailoa a vote of confidence, and is convinced he'll continue to improve

The Miami Dolphins’ decision-makers haven’t been shy about the team’s intentions to get a multi-year extension worked out for Tua Tagovailoa this offseason, and it seems as if both camps are getting closer to locking in a deal for the Pro Bowl quarterback.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said at the scouting combine Tuesday he’s “absolutely” hopeful that a deal will be reached that provides Tagovailoa financial security and keeps him from playing on the fifth-year option, which would pay him $23.1 million and eat up that exact amount of cap space.

A multi-year deal would reduce the year one cap hit for Tagovailoa, but if it’s consistent with the $230 million-plus contracts his quarterback peers have gotten the past two offseasons, it would force the team to tighten the spending in other areas to shoulder the quarterback’s salary.

“I’m very encouraged both Tua’s representation and our organization are hard at work,” said McDaniel, who admits he leaves the negotiations to General Manager Chris Grier. “Those timelines are impossible to predict.”

If the Dolphins get the multi-year deal done before March 13, it likely would reduce the team’s salary deficit ($37 million at the moment), helping Miami get under the salary cap by the first day of the league year, which is mandatory.

However, the legit deadline is the start of the 2024 regular season, which means Miami and Tagovailoa's camp could spend months negotiating on what’s fair.

What could Tua's new deal look like

Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield are two free agent quarterbacks who could reset the quarterback market for Tagovailoa because Cousins, who earned $35 million last season, is expected to become a free agent if a deal can't be worked out with the Minnesota Vikings.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hope to sign Mayfield to a multi-year deal, rewarding the sixth-year quarterback for leading the Buccaneers to the playoffs.

But Tagovailoa and his camp likely will push to use the framework of the new deals Los Angeles Chargers starter Justin Herbert, Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts and Cincinnati's Joe Burrow signed last offseason.

Hurts, who was Tagovailoa's teammate at Alabama, signed a six-year deal that could be worth $255 million. Hurts has three years of options and roster bonus money, and you’ll find that most of this contract can become fully guaranteed based on his roster status.

Burrow received a seven-year, $275 million deal from the Bengals. That deal featured $146.5 million in guaranteed money and will pay Burrow $42.1 million over the deal's first four seasons.

Herbert received a seven-year deal that could worth $300 million, and $133.7 million of that contract was fully guaranteed. Herbert will make $44.5 million a year for the first three seasons, and $38.7 million if he plays out the first five years of that deal without getting it altered.

McDaniel gives Tua a vote of confidence

McDaniel continues to be one of Tagovailoa’s biggest advocates in the process.

“My belief has always been strong since Day 1 in Tua," McDaniel said. "It’s stronger than it was the first day I met him, and that’s because of that relationship where I’m focused, which is continuing to provide the coaching so he can continue to evolve his game, as he has since the second that I started talking to him.”

Tagovailoa finished the 2022 season as the NFL’s top-rated passer, and last season he led the NFL in passing yards.

McDaniel has helped Tagovailoa improve from 29th in passer rating in his first two NFL seasons (2020-21) to second in his last two (2022-23).

During Tagovailoa’s run with McDaniel, the Dolphins have broken six team, and 12 individual records, and most of them have been on offense.

But the Dolphins offense struggled in the final month of the season, and the Dolphins lost three straight games, which included its second straight playoff loss.

“I think one of the best examples of taking control over your career is what Tua was able to do through training and being able to experience all the different things. I mean, shoot, experience a playoff game for the first time in his career. That was afforded to him because he was able to be leading the team week in week out,” McDaniel said. “These are things that weren't necessarily assumed he was capable of doing. But like most things that Tua has done in his career, he's recognized that and proved doubters wrong.”

Tua Tagovailoa Needs to Become A Better Off-script QB for his Game to Evolve