MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — As the NFL quarterback market continues to surge, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa knows that his pay day is coming.
Justin Herbert became the latest signal-caller to ink a record-breaking deal when he agreed to a five-year, $262.5 million extension with the Los Angeles Chargers on Tuesday. Herbert is the second member of the 2020 draft class — which includes Tagovailoa — to sign a big extension, after Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts signed a five-year extension worth $255 million in April.
"It’s really good for the quarterback market," Tagovailoa said Wednesday after Miami's first full-team practice of training camp. “It gets me excited, gets me going. But at the same time, they got what they deserve.”
Even after setting career-highs in passing touchdowns, passing yards and passer rating in a breakout 2022 season, Tagovailoa said he wants to continue to earn a big contract extension.
“I’m always a person that wants to prove to myself that I deserve whatever I get. So for me, I feel like this is something that I need to work for. It’s as plain and simple as that,” Tagovailoa said.
He said he hasn't had any talks with the Dolphins about his contract since the team picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal in March.
"I don’t think that’s a worry of mine," Tagovailoa said. "When things come, they’ll come because you either deserved it or it’s supposed to happen that way.”
Tagovailoa opened training camp Wednesday by tossing a deep ball to receiver Jaylen Waddle, who made a bobbling catch over safety Jevon Holland for a 40-yard completion.
It was a flash of the quarterback and receiver's connection in 2022, and a peek at a more comfortable, confident Tagovailoa that teammates and coaches have noticed this offseason.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa is getting better at “speaking the language” of the quarterback position as he enters Year 2 in the coach's system.
“We put a lot on the quarterbacks in terms of how to communicate and being in charge of everything,” McDaniel said. “He was literally speaking a foreign language and doing it at a pretty high level. This year, he owns the language. What that manifests? Everything. Ask a player what conviction does in a play call within a huddle. These little nuances are a big deal. All of a sudden, your conviction, the quarterback, you’re saying the same play, but with authority and ownership. Guys believe in it that much more.”
That equates to small differences like fewer pre-snap penalties or getting to the line of scrimmage faster, McDaniel added.
Tagovailoa led the league in passer rating in 2022 and guided the Dolphins to a 9-8 record, a second-place finish in the AFC East and their first playoff berth since 2016. Miami lost to Buffalo in the wild card round of the playoffs.
The question remains of whether Tagovailoa will be able to stay healthy this season after he was diagnosed with two known concussion in 2022, the latter of which sidelined him for the Dolphins' playoff game.
NOTES: Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill said he can't make “boneheaded mistakes” when referring to his dispute with a South Florida marina worker. Hill said the “issue has been resolved” and he is cooperating with the NFL on providing details about what happened. ... OL Conner Williams confirmed Wednesday that he skipped the team's offseason program because of dissatisfaction with his contract but said he's at peace with where things are right now. ... McDaniel said he expects LT Terron Armstead and OT Isaiah Wynn back from the PUP list sooner than CB Nik Needham and TE Tanner Conner. Armstead had “cleanup work” done on his knee this offseason. Wynn hurt himself training.
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