As is the case with all first-round picks from the 2020 NFL Draft, Tua Tagovailoa will soon learn whether or not his team wants to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal. Though he is currently signed through the 2023 campaign, the team will have to make a decision before the May 1 deadline.
Thanks to a recent report, fans now know how much the Dolphins will have to fork over if they decide to pick up Tagovailoa’s fifth-year option.
Given the season that Tagovailoa just had, it would be understandable why the Dolphins would want to think long and hard before picking up Tagovailoa’s option. Though he was fantastic when healthy, setting new career-highs in essentially every key statistic for a quarterback, he once again dealt with injuries.
This season, his injury concerns were the most serious ones he’s had in his entire NFL career. He suffered two confirmed concussions.
His second concussion, which occurred in a Week 16 loss to the Green Bay Packers, forced him to miss the remainder of the regular season as well as the Dolphins’ lone playoff game.
Though Tagovailoa is undoubtedly a great player when he is at his best, availability is the most important ability in the NFL, and the fact that he’s never played a full NFL season three years into his career has to be something the team’s front office is thinking about.
When it comes to what kind of approach the front office is indeed taking, general manager Chris Grier recently admitted that the team will consider all options regarding Tagovailoa and his future with the team.
Dolphins GM Chris Grier asked multiple times about plans for Tua Tagovailoa’s 5th year option and long-term contract decisions gave different versions of — we will discuss the options.
Grier: “Everything is on the table for us.”
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) January 16, 2023
It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of Tagovailoa or his future with the team. Still, it seems more likely than not that the team will at least pick up his fifth-year option to give Tagovailoa more time to prove that he can be relied upon in the health department.
If Tagovailoa can continue to grow as a passer and decision-maker on the field while managing to stay healthy, it seems rather likely that the Dolphins will conclude that he is indeed their quarterback of the future.
