Dolphins, QB Tua Tagovailoa reach 4-year, $212.4M extension

MIAMI -- The  Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa have agreed to a four-year, $212.4 million extension, the largest in franchise history, his agency told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday. 

The $53.1 million average annual value of the contract briefly placed Tagovailoa third among the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks, behind the  Jacksonville Jaguars'  Trevor Lawrence and  Cincinnati Bengals'  Joe Burrow, before the  Green Bay Packers and Jordan Love  reached agreement on a deal hours later that matched Lawrence and Burrow at $55 million in average per year. 

Tagovailoa's deal includes $167 million guaranteed, eighth most among quarterbacks.

Miami is the only team in the NFL with three offensive skill players making at least $70 million in guaranteed money -- wide receivers Tyreek Hill ($72.2 million) and Jaylen Waddle ($71.6 million) being the others. Their combined $310.8 million guaranteed is the third most for any offensive skill trio (QB, RB, WR, TE), according to Roster Management System.

The agreement ends a "fluid" first two days of training camp, during which Tagovailoa was a limited participant or nonparticipant. He practiced in full during the team's third training camp practice Friday, hours before news of the extension broke.

Both sides had been negotiating a deal since the 2023 season ended, and the team kept consistent communication with Tagovailoa's representatives at Athletes First.

Tagovailoa was the third quarterback to reach an extension this offseason, following the  Detroit Lions'  Jared Goff and Lawrence. 

Since Dan Marino retired before the 2000 season, the Dolphins have struggled at quarterback. Twenty-five players, including Tagovailoa, have started at least one game for the Dolphins since the turn of the century. Only one of those players, 2012 first-round pick Ryan Tannehill, had signed a multiyear extension with the team.

The expectation from the beginning was for Tagovailoa to end that plight when the Dolphins selected him at No. 5 in 2020, making him their highest-drafted quarterback since 1980. His career got off to a modest, then concerning start; his year-over-year numbers improved in each of his first three seasons, but he also missed nine games to injury, which included two diagnosed concussions during the 2022 season.

Tagovailoa turned in a career year in 2023, however, leading the NFL with 4,624 passing yards and setting a career high with 29 touchdown passes. He became the first Dolphins quarterback to lead the league in passing yards since Marino in 1992, and his total passing yards were the third most in a season in Dolphins history, behind only Marino (5,084 yards in 1984; 4,746 in 1986).

Marino's career earnings with the Dolphins totaled $51 million, according to OverTheCap.com (not adjusting for inflation). 

Tagovailoa played in every game in 2023 for the first time in his NFL career en route to being named the AFC's starting quarterback in his first Pro Bowl appearance.

With Tagovailoa now in his third season with Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, Hill and Waddle, the expectations for him are even higher -- starting with winning the franchise's first playoff game since the 2000 season.

ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.