The quarterback market keeps reaching new heights, and it doesn't look like things will subside anytime soon. Even after the Jaguars made Trevor Lawrence the NFL's highest-paid QB alongside Joe Burrow, more signal-callers are poised to enter the $50 million-per-year club in short order, including Tua Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins quarterback is entering the final year of his contract after Miami picked up his fifth-year option, which will pay him $23.17 million for the 2024 campaign. While no deal has been struck to this point, ESPN reports the two sides are in the ballpark on an extension and it could come together throughout the summer leading into training camp.
Tagovailoa had skipped out on some of the voluntary portions of Miami's offseason program, but did report to mandatory minicamp. That signals that things have not grown too volatile between the two sides during this negotiating period, but the former first-round quarterback did seem to be getting impatient judging by his comments earlier this month, telling reporters he is ready to "get something done."
Tagovailoa did express confidence that a deal will get done, but acknowledged "the market is the market."
According to Spotrac's market value projections, Tagovailoa could be looking at a four-year, $198.5 million contract extension that has a $49.6 million average annual value. However, that probably should be looked at as the floor. Oftentimes, the timing of when these contracts come up outweighs whether or not the quarterback has accomplished enough to warrant being atop the market. That's why it wouldn't be surprising to see Tagovailoa cross over the $50-plus-million-per-year threshold and join the likes of Burrow, Lawrence, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts.
Tagovalia is coming off a 2023 season where he led the NFL in passing, and, most importantly, played a full 17-game season for the first time in his career. He's displayed durability and a high level of production, which should equate to him soon putting pen to paper on the latest quarterback megadeal.
