Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has said, “The market is the market.” Which is the closest he has come to saying he wants a market deal.
Of course he does. If he didn’t, he’d already have his new contract.
The question is whether the Dolphins will give him one. The next question is, if they don’t, what will he do about it?
At some point before Miami opens training camp, the Dolphins presumably will make a firm and final offer. He’ll then have to decide whether to take something that gives him plenty of security and cash (but not market value) or whether to play for $23.1 million in 2024 and see what happens in 2025.
As explained in Friday’s #PFTPM, what you want eventually yields to the question of what you can get vs. what you have.
There’s one way for Tua to try to get what he wants. He can refuse to show up for training camp.
As a player in his fifth-year option. he’d be subject to daily fines of $40,000 — plus a regular-season game check for each preseason game missed ($1.28 million). But those fines can be waived, since he’s still operating under his rookie deal. Still, the amount of the fines likely will be peanuts in comparison to the difference between what he wants and what he can get/what he has.
Holding out would be a bold move. Not many starting quarterbacks stay away from training camp for contract reasons. It would make it harder for him to play at a high level in 2024. Which would also hurt the team’s interests. Their current alternatives are Mike White, Skylar Thompson, and Gavin Hardison.
It also would be out of character for Tua, who often comes off as deferential and compliant (which are typically positive traits within the confines of a football team). Every once in a while, however, he flashes an edge. If he chooses to activate “Salty Tua” for the purposes of getting what he thinks he deserves, who knows?
Maybe he’ll stay away. It might be the only way for Tua to get what he wants.