Head coach Mike McDaniel has finally indicated the Miami Dolphins may not be all-in on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
According to Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN, McDaniel told reporters at the NFL combine on Tuesday the Dolphins haven’t yet made a decision about the fifth-year option attached to Tagovailoa’s rookie contract.
“Like any other player, you factor in every variable,” McDaniel explained. “I think it’s important to recognize we have a congruence of interests by the Dolphins and the player, Tua, that we both want him to play at a very high level for a long time for the Miami Dolphins.”
McDaniel has repeatedly spoken highly of Tagovailoa going back to the coach’s early days as a member of the organization last winter. While Tagovailoa found his name in Most Valuable Player discussions this past fall, the 24-year-old also suffered a minimum of two concussions during the season through his final in-game appearance of the campaign that occurred on Christmas Day.
Even after Tagovailoa missed Miami’s final two regular-season contests and the playoff defeat at the Buffalo Bills, both McDaniel and Dolphins general manager Chris Grier backed the 2020 first-round draft pick as the team’s future starter. That was before Tagovailoa remained in the concussion protocol through all of January.
The Dolphins have until May 1 to decline or exercise Tagovailoa’s option. Declining it would put him on track to hit free agency in March 2024.
“We’re probably best served to utilize the time [until the deadline],” McDaniel continued. “That’s kind of the way we’re approaching it, but that doesn’t mean that we’re spending any long period of time not discussing it. This is something that Chris and I have been working through.”
The Dolphins have been linked in stories this offseason with recently re-retired quarterback Tom Brady and with Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson. Brady’s contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers expires when the new league year begins on March 15, and the Ravens reportedly are not close to signing Jackson before they have to use the franchise tag to retain his rights for 2023.
