Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa present for OTAs amid contract talks
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa arrived for OTAs on Monday, despite concerns of a holdout amid contract talks, according to Dianna Russini. Though he missed the majority of the team’s voluntary spring workout program, the former first-overall draft pick is present as the team’s “Phase 3” preparations begin for the 2024 season.
OTAs last four weeks and provide Tagovailoa plenty of opportunities for his reps to continue negotiations with the Dolphins. Teams can conduct a total of 10 days of organized team activities across four weeks. Though they can’t compete in live contact situations, Miami can still have 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and even full 11-on-11 drills. Since participation is voluntary, the star quarterback could change his mind about showing up at any point if he doesn’t like how contract talks are going.
According to ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler, Tagovailoa’s decision to participate in OTAs could signal some progress on negotiations.
“The Miami Dolphins have started talks, they’ve made an offer, all those things but it hasn’t progressed all so well because he has missed some time,” Fowler said last week. “He’s missed some of the early voluntary offseason workout sessions.
“Whether he shows up coming up in the coming weeks will probably depend on how they progressed with the contract talks. The market speaks. We saw Jared Goff get a big deal in Detroit over $50 million (a year). So we’ll see how close Miami is willing to get to that threshold.”
Tagovailoa played the 2023 season for the Dolphins on his fifth-year option deal. He played for $23.17 million, which is likely half the annual salary he’d garner on the open market.
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After dealing with injury concerns over the last couple of seasons of his football career, Tagovailoa played in every game in 2023. He led Miami to an 11-6 record and made the Pro Bowl after leading the NFL in passing with 4,624 yards.
The Dolphins lost to the Chiefs, the eventual Super Bowl champions, on a frigid night in Kansas City to open the playoffs, but they found out they have the right quarterback leading the charge. Having shown improvement and an ability to stay healthy, Tagovailoa appears cemented as the team’s starter for years to come.
In early April, the Dolphins quarterback traveled to Hawaii, his home state, for a football camp sponsored by his foundation. He mostly declined to comment about his contract.
“Right now, I’m letting my agent handle that,” Tagovailoa told reporters. “I’m focused on my family, I’m focused on continuing to better myself, better my craft and we’ll talk more about that when that time comes. For now, exciting times ahead, that’s for sure.”
On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.