In 1966, Joe Robbie purchased the expansion franchise of the Los Angeles Lakers for $7.5 million. Dolphins de Miami in the American Football League. The NFL did not yet exist. In 1987, the now Hard Rock Stadium was opened, with a capacity for 75,000 people and an investment of 115 million dollars.
The sum of both figures does not reach the amount agreed last Friday, July 26, between Tua Tagovailoa y los Dolphins for the quarterback’s contract extension. It’s not even close to the total guaranteed money.
The deal, worth four years and $212.4 million, of which $167.1 million is guaranteed, is the largest commitment ever signed to a player in the franchise’s nearly six-decade history.
It’s the 11th contract among active NFL players, all of them quarterbacks. And at $53.1 million a year, it’s fourth behind only Joe Burrow (Bengals), Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars) and Jordan Love (Packers).
Since legendary Dan Marino retired in 2000, the Dolphins have had 25 different quarterbacks, almost one per season, and that surely took its toll on their performance with just one win in six playoff appearances in the new century.
The New England Patriots, by contrast, had just one quarterback in the first two decades of the new century and won six Super Bowls.
Perhaps that’s why the Dolphins thought very carefully about the need to maintain stability at the most important position in football and decided to continue trusting the quarterback they chose in the fifth pick of the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Dolphins weren’t about to give the 26-year-old Hawaiian-born player a blank check, though. After all, it wasn’t until 2023 that Tua played his first full NFL season. And the first two had been plagued by injuries and ups and downs.
Negotiations began in February. In June, Tua said talks were well underway but soon after stopped attending practices, a sign that no one was budging on their positions.
At the start of training camp in late July, Tua missed the first two days. Things were getting complicated for both sides. Finally, on Friday, July 26, information leaked that they had reached an agreement. And on Sunday, July 28, the Dolphins announced that Tua had signed the long-awaited extension.
“It hasn’t been an easy process,” the quarterback said about the negotiations with the club. “We’ve had many conversations, we’ve discussed many things that needed to be worked on together and we’ve always maintained a good relationship.”
Tua told reporters that signing this contract is life-changing, but not in the sense that he’s going to go out and buy a jet and then fly to Las Vegas.
“I grew up in a middle-class family,” the quarterback revealed. “My father was the only one working and my mother took care of the children. I am very fortunate to use football as my destiny to help my family for generations with the kind of money I am going to receive.”
Many say that Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who is entering his third season with the franchise, gave Tua the confidence he needed to establish himself and the quarterback in turn confessed that the strategist had a decisive role in the extension of his contract.
“McDaniel advocated for me to the brass and to the owner of the franchise, Stephen Ross,” Tua said. “I’m not going to go into detail about the things I heard he advocated for me. What he did for me, he does for every other player, and I’m very grateful for that.”
And what are you going to do with so much money? they asked him.
“Having so much money allows me to provide for my family and my children, my children’s children and their children. It’s a very special feeling. Anyone in my position would say the same thing and I am extremely grateful,” he replied.
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AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
For McDaniel, the entire process of Tua’s contract extension is history. Now the focus is on the first preseason game, against the Atlanta Falcons, on August 9 (7 pm) at Hard Rock Stadium and then on the start of the regular season, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, on September 8 (1 pm) at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Our focus is on training day and the gains we need to make in this stage of preparation,” McDaniel explained. “I knew that with Tua there was going to be a happy ending, and now we have to move forward. This is a handshake and a smile, but not a celebration. We have to work for what is coming and that is what we are doing.”