The off-season has been abuzz with a lot of contract talks. Tua Tagovailo and Dak Prescott are among the most anticipated contract extensions. Analysts and players alike have been keeping an eye on the possibilities of big contracts and no other is bigger than the contracts the quarterbacks get. In the past, the league has seen players like Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes make market-changing deals.
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And while on SPEAK, Emmanuel Acho and Joy Taylor discussed the possibility of Dolphins’ QB, Tua Tagovailoa signing a contract that switches the market up yet again. He said,
“He’s shown you that he has to be able to reset the market. And quarterbacks who have done less, they reset the market. I won’t question if he does as well.” Acho made it clear that a market-changing deal that upgrades Tua from his $23.1 million fifth-year option needs to happen.
In his eyes, the Dolphins quarterback has achieved everything the Dolphins asked of him. The young QB has had to deal with a constant shift in coaching structure and a chaotic front office for the past few years. And apart from the presence of Tyreek Hill, Tua is the reason behind any relevance the Miami Dolphins have, per the analyst.
Alongside this, Tagovailo simply deserves a contract because of his dominance over some of his competition. Despite his numbers being better than his contemporaries like Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson, they earn $50 million plus salaries.
Acho reasoned that if Burrow and Jackson are earning such big salaries then Tus has earned the right to negotiate a marketing-changing deal for himself, considering he beats them out in yards per game, yards per attempt, and pass rating. And in a moment of rarity, there was agreement on the show as Joy Taylor aligned with Acho’s train of thought.
The Art of Contract Restructuring and Tua Tagovailoa’s Future
While Acho compared Tua to his peers and stood firm on his grounds of comparison, Joy’s reasoning was much more pragmatic. She argued that from an organization’s point of view, paying Tua makes sense. As of now, Tua is the franchise QB for the Miami Dolphins.
And while he hasn’t revealed to have Super Bowl-winning capabilities like Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, he has talent. From a short-term point of view, Tua is Miami’s main QB, and that itself should earn him a marketing-changing contract, as per Joy Taylor.
She explained his contract’s impact as the highest-paid QB is going to be short-lived, as it is with most QB contracts, there will be a new one next season, rendering Tua’s contract’s impact moot. Additionally, a marketing-changing deal doesn’t even need to affect the team’s salary cap.
Through the intricate art of restructuring contracts, Tua can very well get paid lesser upfront and higher later on.
Keeping all of these pragmatic, business-level decisions in mind, extending Tua’s contract to a marketing-shifting one makes perfect sense. The combination of Joy’s practical logic and Acho’s peer-comparison explanation makes the perfect argument for Tua receiving a market-shifting deal.
For now, the ball remains in the court of the Dolphins. With the season inching closer, the Dolphins have a franchise-impacting decision to make and it remains to be seen if the express their faith in Tua Tagovailoa.
