MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Tuesday didn’t even try to hide his pique over the fact that it’s early June and he still doesn’t have a contract extension.
First, he declined to participate in minicamp camp practice team drills — a negotiating tactic known as holding in.
Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa ‘Antsy’ Over Contract Talks
After practice, Tagovailoa removed any doubt that he’s displeased with the slow progress in talks between his agent and his team.
Asked if he was agitated/annoyed/bothered that an agreement hasn’t yet been struck, Tagovailoa bit his tongue so hard it nearly bled. After a long pause, an ear-to-ear grin spread across his face.
“How about that pause? I’m just wanting to get something done. That’s it. Just wanting to get something done.”
He insisted he wasn’t concerned or frustrated, but did acknowledge that he’s “probably antsy.”
Tagovailoa also said that it’s “100%” hard to compartmentalize business and football at a time like this, adding:
“For people that talk about ‘business is different than personal,’ sure, like I can agree to some extent,” Tagovailoa said. “But who you are as a person, for what you do business and personal, is who you are with how you do everything. That’s how I see it.
“That’s just how I look at it. And if not, like if you can be two different people at once. Hey, by all means, you can do that, but to me, that’s just not how I am.”
Tua Tagovailoa with his most expansive comments yet about his contract situation pic.twitter.com/jVlV9YdFmj
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) June 4, 2024
Tagovailoa also said that he’s well aware of recent increases in the quarterback market, most notably Jared Goff’s four-year, $212 million extension.
“I’ll tell you one thing, the market is the market,” Tagovailoa said. “If we didn’t have a market, then none of that would matter. [It would] just be an organizational thing, you know. Didn’t matter if that guy got paid, that because it’s up to the organization. So that’s what I would say. The market is the market. That’s it.”
And, as his comments Tuesday made abundantly clear, Tagovailoa is not going to settle for a below-market contract.
In other words, while Tua wants to make Miami his home, he’s not taking a hometown discount.
