Donovan McNabb bats for Tua Tagovailoa to pip Jared Goff's $53,000,000 AAV amid contract negotiations with Dolphins
The contract discussion for Tua Tagovailoa has risen massively during the offseason. The Miami Dolphins quarterback is entering the final year of his rookie deal, and while his numbers are great, the Dolphins are justifiably wary of paying a huge amount to him due to his lack of success in big moments.
There's no denying that, when things are great, Tua Tagovailoa is an excellent quarterback. But you need your leader to make your team better, and not the other way around, which is where the two sides are struggling to meet. If you give him a huge contract, there will be less money remaining for the other parts of the roster.
But former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb, who spent the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, thinks that it's for the Dolphins to stop playing around and just find a deal with their quarterback, even giving him more money than what the Detroit Lions gave to Jared Goff. McNabb said:
"I just think, for quarterbacks, when you come up - and it's time -, I think he deserves at least $50 million. It's the timing of it all. So I will say yes [more than Jared Goff], only because one, he's younger, and two, he's on a football team that's balanced all around.
"So you would think that success is on the rise. I just think they've to think about that at this particular point because you just paid Waddle, Tyreek Hill's looking for a new deal, and then you don't have your quarterback taken care of. That just sounds like nonsense to me."
The Tua Tagovailoa problem: Dolphins have a major decision to make with the quarterback
The Dolphins can't just give up on Tua Tagovailoa, as they don't have better options at the moment. At the same time, they can't simply make him the highest-paid new quarterback in the league, even with the major salary cap increase that NFL teams weren't expecting.
Miami has a clear risk on its hands: compromising the salary cap without security in the most important position of the game. Don't be shocked by the outcome, whatever it is.