How far is Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa willing to push to get a new contract before the start of the 2024 season?
Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love — who was Tua’s 2020 draft classmate — provided a roadmap Monday.
Green Bay GM Brian Gutekunst told reporters Monday that Love — who, like Tagovailoa, is entering the final year of his rookie contract — has reported to Packers training camp but will not practice until he gets an extension.
Will Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa Follow Jordan Love’s Lead?
That seems like the best-case scenario for the Dolphins, whose veterans report Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s first practice.
Tagovailoa, who held a quasi-hold-in during spring ball, has not yet publicly committed to showing up to Dolphins camp. If he holds out, he would be subject to daily fines that would top $5 million should he skip the entire preseason.
Neither Tua nor head coach Mike McDaniel is expected to speak to reporters Tuesday during the team’s camp kickoff media availability. McDaniel’s first news conference of 2024 Dolphins training camp is Wednesday morning, ahead of the team’s first practice.
Unless Tagovailoa has had a change of heart, we expect him to continue to press the issue publicly. His attendance at the team’s voluntary offseason program was intermittent, and when he did show up, he sat out team drills as a negotiating ploy. That was the case in the team’s mandatory minicamp, which he attended.
Tagovailoa and Love are both looking for long-term deals that will average north of $50 million annually. It’s possible one or both become the highest-paid players in NFL history, signing deals that exceed the $55 million AAV deals signed by Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence.
While it’s unclear if the Dolphins and Tagovailoa have made significant progress since Tua spoke to reporters in June, Gutekunst struck an optimistic tone about a potential Love extension.
“I feel we’re close,” Gutekunst told Green Bay reporters.
Do the Dolphins feel the same? McDaniel will presumably shed more light on Wednesday.
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But the expectation should be that Tagovailoa — who follows the quarterback market closely — follows Love’s lead and withholds his services in some capacity.
“I’m not blind to people that are in my position that are getting paid,” Tagovailoa said last month. “Am I concerned about it? I’m not concerned about it, but there’s a lot of discussion that we’ve had that we just are trying to move that thing into the right direction where we can both be happy.”
