Mike Florio believes Tua Tagovailoa could miss out on $50+ million deal due to his status with Dolphins
The contract stalemate between Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins remains a major question mark for the franchise. Tagovailoa is entering the final year of his deal with the franchise, and the lack of a contract extension shows how the Dolphins are uncertain if he's the real guy to lead them.
A recent comment by Mike Florio on Rich Eisen Show about the recent quarterback extensions once again shed light on the developing situation in Miami. The new deal for Trevor Lawrence puts even more pressure on the Dolphins - and they're showing to the whole world how uncertain they are about their quarterback (Start at 8:28):
"I'll be surprised if Stephen Ross authorizes a market deal for Tua Tagovailoa because I still think we're kind of in this. We don't know which way he's gonna go. He's still not clearly a franchise quarterback, he's not a bust, he's in that middle category of he could be a franchise quarterback. We just aren't there yet. We'd like to be able to have more time to make that decision before we give him a franchise quarterback contract," Florio said.
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.
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. Just ask the Browns.
Miami has a clear risk on its hands: compromising the salary cap without security in the most important position of the game - especially because getting out of huge contracts to quarterbacks is nearly impossible in the short term. Don't be shocked by the outcome, whatever it is.