Dolphins pick up Tua Tagovailoa 5th officially and it was the only option

Tua Tagovailoa will be playing for the Miami Dolphins in 2024 or at the very least, getting paid by the Dolphins in 2024. They officially picked up his option.

Almost a month after saying they intended to pick up the 5th year option of their starting quarterback, the Dolphins have officially announced that they have indeed followed through.

Let the “whining” begin. There is a group of Tua haters on social media that will swarm out of the corners to complain about this move, but frankly, it is the only decision the Dolphins had to make.

Tua’s 2022 season is over and whether the concussions is something to worry about or something that will not be a problem moving forward, the Dolphins’ only other choices were to extend him or take the chances of having to pay him more next year.

Tua’s entire 2024 salary is now guaranteed regardless of health. The one-year option will put Tua at around $24 million for the 2024 season but the Dolphins can easily reduce that by extending him after the 2023 season if Tua proves he can stay healthy. If he can’t, Tua could see his 2024 year as his last in Miami.

The move, again, is smart and will give Tua, hopefully, a full five seasons of evaluations ahead of an extension.

Now, the Dolphins need to keep him upright and healthy and that means Tua himself has to change his style of play. Forget about the martial arts that he is taking this off-season in an effort to change how he falls, he needs to stay on his feet and make better decisions with the football. Accuracy is fantastic but Tua tends to hold the ball far too long when his first reads are not options and that leads to hits he shouldn’t be taking.

For now, Miami fans supporting Tua can rejoice and those who are not and believe that he will be gone, can now stop talking about it for at least another year.

As for Noah Igbinoghene and Austin Jackson, Miami’s other two first-round picks from 2020, it would be absolutely shocking if Miami even thought about picking up their 5th year options.