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Tua Tagovailoa has been a man on a mission this offseason. Miami's starting QB has been hard at work transforming his body so that he will be in better football shape come the fall. His teammates have already started to notice the results.
According to Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post, Tyreek Hill had some laughs about Tua's offseason body transformation. Hill pulled no punches when joking around about his QB.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Hill joked on Tuesday. “When I saw Tua at the Pro Bowl, I was kind of scared. He was fat as *hit.”
Hill noted Tua looks great now, on and off the field.
“Ozempic?” Hill chuckled.
Tua has noted that his transformation is due to diet, exercise, and cutting out added sugars.
Tua is already seeing results on the football field. After last season, coach Mike McDaniel said he thought Tua could buy himself some extra time and extend plays. That should be easier in 2024.
“I feel better,” Tua said. “Quicker on my feet. More nimble. I can extend plays more.”
Tua could elevate his game if he can become more elusive in scramble drills and long-developing plays. He ranked around the middle of the league is sacks in 2023 (29 allowed, T-19th in NFL). Tua also had the best average time to throw in the NFL (2.32 seconds) according to Pro Football Focus. If Tua can become more elusive in the pocket and continue to get the ball out quickly, he could face a much lower sack volume in 2024.
Tagovailoa looked sharp in 7-on-7 drills at Dolphins practice. However, he's skipping 11-on-11 practice seeking a contract extension with the Dolphins.
Waddle also got in on the fun.
“I told him I miss chubby Tua,” Jaylen Waddle laughed. “I'm not gonna lie.”
Dolphins extend Jaylen Waddle — could Tua be next?
The Miami Dolphins recently signed Jaylen Waddle to a three-year, $84.75 million contract extension. The deal includes an almost $19 million signing bonus and $76 million guaranteed. Waddle is locked up through the 2028 NFL season.
Both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are locked up long-term with the Dolphins. That leaves Tua as the only other important piece of the offense who is yet to be re-signed.
Tyreek Hill believes that Tua should have already been extended.
“Tua should’ve been paid,” said Hill, per Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
Hill also used an interesting analogy to address the situation.
“I feel like at the end of the day, if you feel like you're top five at something, that's like if you work at Amazon. If you're one of the best Amazon delivery drivers, you're going to feel a certain type of way. You're going to go to your boss and say ‘hey, bruh. I'm doing a hundred routes. This person's only doing 65 routes. I'm supposed to be the top paid person, you feel me?”
While Tua may not be the top-five QB that Hill is insinuating, his point is still valid. QBs are always resetting the market in the NFL. Recently, that market was kickstarted by a new extension signed by Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, netting him $53 million per year.
“The market is the market. If we didn't have a market, none of that would matter. That's what I would say. The market is the market,” Tagovailoa said, per Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team on X.
It will be interesting to see how this situation progresses throughout the summer. Hopefully it is figured out before the regular season.
