When Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa agreed to a four year, $212 million deal on Friday, it served as the official end to a saga in which the Dolphins attempted to find anybody but Tagovailoa to be their starting quarterback. Remember, it was only two years ago when the Dolphins were firmly in the mix, or at least putting legitimate feelers out for both Deshaun Watson and Tom Brady, hoping that one of those two would be able to step in in place of the 5th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Fortunately for Tua Tagovailoa, he has one supporter in the building whose opinion carries a lot of weight… Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, who took over as the head coach in Miami ahead of the 2022 season, and has proven to be instrumental not only in Tagovailoa's development as a quarterback, but also in the recent contract negotiations that made Tagovailoa the fourth-highest paid quarterback in the history of the NFL in terms of average annual value.
Last season, Tua Tagovailoa completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for a league-high 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns. The Dolphins were second in the NFL in scoring at just over 29 points per game, so it's perfectly understandable why they — or maybe more appropriately, why Mike McDaniel — would be eager to put make sure that there wouldn't be any contract snafus with their franchise quarterback.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel speaks on the contract extension
Despite the fact that Mike McDaniel was apparently instrumental in this deal between the Dolphins and Tua Tagovailoa getting done, don't expect the 41-year-old head coach to be celebrating any time soon.
“It's maybe a handshake and a smile,” McDaniel said in the aftermath of Tagovailoa's extension, per Bobby Kownack of NFL.com. “But it's not a celebration.”
McDaniel knows that there is plenty of work to be done. After such a promising regular season last year, the Dolphins lost their final two games of the season, one in the regular season finale to the Buffalo Bills, which could've clinched the AFC East and a home game in the Playoffs, and the next on the road in frigid Kansas City. For the Dolphins to push beyond the Wild Card Round, they'll need Tua to continue to grow.
“Tua's shown me that throughout the entire offseason that he knows what time it is, fortunately him and all his teammates can go out and determine whatever the narrative is built upon by the way they play. We focus on the way we play, understanding that we will always hear about the results regardless of what they are. So why don't we try to move the needle on what those results are.”
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