Dolphins-Tua Tagovailoa contract crossroads will wait for someone to blink first

This past season, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in the regular season. There's no disputing that. He started all 17 games, completing 69.3% of his throws for a league-leading 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions.

Tua is far from perfect, and he does have one of the best supporting casts in the league along with an elite offensive head coach, but he performed like the Pro Bowler he was. Leading the league in passing yards is not easy even with the weapons he has, and he helped lead this team to the postseason.

With Tagovailoa entering the final year of his rookie deal, he's understandably wanting an extension. He doesn't only want an extension, he wants to be made one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL. The only issue with that is that the Dolphins don't want to give him that kind of contract.

Dolphins reportedly are not interested in giving Tua Tagovailoa high-end QB money

ESPN's Jeff Darlington had this to say when discussing how likely a deal actually is to get done:

"Based on my conversations, they are not in the Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence ballpark, and that to me speaks volumes about where the negotiations are right now."

This is pretty clear. Based on what Darlington has heard, the Dolphins are unwilling to give Tagovailoa a contract similar to what Goff and Lawrence got. For reference, both Goff and Lawrence signed long-term extensions earlier this offseason worth over $50 million annually, making them among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the sport.

The Dolphins are unwilling to waver on their stance, but Tua is staying strong on his side as well.

"Right now, there's five words that are looming over this contract negotiation, and they're the words that came out of Tua's mouth: 'The market is the market.' He said that after Jared Goff had signed his deal and before Trevor Lawrence signed his."

The way NFL contracts usually work is once one player at a certain position gets paid, the one next in line often tops that deal and resets the market. There are obviously exceptions, but for these quarterbacks, that is the expectation. Goff signed first, Lawrence got more money, and now Tua is trying to out-earn both of them.

Tagovailoa has an argument, but the Dolphins also have reason to be unwilling to meet those crazy demands.

Tua has an extensive injury history. He was able to stay healthy this past season, but he missed substantial time in each of the previous two seasons. Additionally, as great as he's been in the regular season, particularly in the last two years, the Dolphins have had no postseason success to speak of. Tagovailoa was inactive in the 2023 playoffs and didn't play well at all this past postseason.

For this to get done, one side is going to have to budge. If that doesn't happen, the Dolphins might be risking losing their franchise guy in free agency.