Tua Tagovailoa ‘not telling anyone’ about offseason workouts, contract negotiations

This time a year ago, everyone was hearing about Tua Tagovailoa and his workouts as the Dolphins quarterback tried to prep his body to better take a blast from a blitzing linebacker.

This year, however, Tagovailoa is keeping his workouts under wraps. Last year, he was learning martial arts. This year, who knows. In the meantime, the Dolphins and Tagovailoa’s representatives are negotiating a contract extension to keep the quarterback happy in Miami.

Tagovailoa took a trip to Hawaii, his home state, this past weekend, for an inaugural youth football camp in conjunction with his Tua Foundation non-profit. Reporters asked the former Alabama star about his current workouts, since they were such a topic of discussion a year ago. But he gave a curious response.

“I’m not telling anyone what I’m doing this offseason,” the Dolphins quarterback told reporters who gathered at Kamehameha’s Kunuiakea Stadium. “That’s what makes me special in my way. I’m a very private person so I think that’s gonna be in-house.”

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Tagovailoa missed four games in 2022 after he suffered a series of concussions. The first happened on national television early in the season. That’s when the Dolphins played a Thursday Night Football game on the road against the Bengals. Tua ended up in a Cincinnati emergency room. His injury reignited a discussion about NFL players and concussions.

He then suffered another concussion sometime during the Dolphins Christmas Day game against the Packers. Coach Mike McDaniel told reporters that Tagovailoa started having symptoms after the game. The quarterback missed the rest of the season.

After he focused on building up his body through martial arts last winter and spring, Tagovailoa played in every game this past fall. 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.

Miami already picked up his fifth-year option for this season. He’ll earn a guaranteed $23.71 million. However, sides are negotiating something more long term. And like his workouts, Tagovailoa isn’t talking about a potential contract either. He took a pass, other than to say everything was cool.

“They’ve been good. Right now, I’m letting my agent handle that,” Tagovailoa said. “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.”