NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Friday the Dolphins informed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa they’re picking up the fifth-year option attached to his rookie contract that guarantees him roughly $23.2 million for the 2024 season.
Miami head coach Mike McDaniel raised eyebrows throughout the NFL community when he said during the combine that the club hadn’t yet decided what it would do about Tagovailoa’s option, and general manager Chris Grier acknowledged he has some concerns about the 25-year-old’s durability.
Tagovailoa enjoyed a career season in his first year playing under McDaniel but generated headlines due to the physical setbacks he endured during the campaign. Most notably, he suffered a minimum of two concussions and missed the club’s final two regular-season games and the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills because he was in the concussion protocol for over a month.
Multiple insiders linked Lamar Jackson with the Dolphins both before and after the Ravens used the non-exclusive franchise tag to retain his rights for 2023. Miami reportedly recently created over $40 million in salary cap space, and some assumed the organization was preparing to give the one-time NFL Most Valuable Player the type of fully guaranteed contract he has allegedly desired since last year.
Meanwhile, NFL Network’s Rich Eisen made news Monday when he said that he heard during the combine to “keep an eye out” for the Dolphins possibly contacting Tom Brady about ending his latest retirement if they “somehow or some way get a doctor’s report or piece of information from a medical evaluation of Tua that he may not be ready to go.”
It’s widely believed Brady wanted to join the Dolphins last winter, and his ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, owns a home in Miami.
Earlier this week, New England Patriots broadcaster Scott Zolak said he thought “the possibility of (Brady) coming out of retirement (to play in Miami) is definitely 100% in play.”
Nothing about Friday’s developments will ease the worries many have about Tagovailoa possibly experiencing future head injuries. It seems, for better or for worse, that the Dolphins have reasons to think the 2020 first-round draft pick will be just fine for Week 1 of the 2023 season and beyond.
