Whether you are a fan of Tua Tagovailoa or not, you know as well as every other Miami Dolphins fan that things were not always great. Sure, the QB made a lot of mistakes over his past five seasons with the team, but the Dolphins made just as many, if not more.
When Dolphins fans look back on Tagovailoa's career, the highlights will clearly point to the 2023 season that could have led to an amazing conclusion. Instead, the Dolphins' defensive injuries took a toll.
Drafting Tagovailoa will always be viewed as a mistake, especially when compared to Justin Herbert, but other mistakes were made along the way that can't be overlooked. Will the Dolphins look back on his release with regret someday? Probably not.
Miami Dolphins have no one to blame but themselves for the Tua Tagovailoa mess
Brian Flores should have kept his mouth shut
Whether you wanted to draft a specific player or wanted someone else, publicly taking your case to the street is never a good idea. That was the problem for Flores. He wanted to remove himself from Tagovailoa so much that he leaked his desire to trade for Deshaun Watson. The problem? Miami didn't make the deal.
During his first season, Tagovailoa sat on the bench in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick. That was the right move. Pressure from the top made Flores change his mind. Tagovailoa started, but just long enough to get benched again. Eventually, Flores caved, and Tagovailoa was the starter. It shouldn't have been that hard.
It was evident from the start that Tagovailoa wasn't the QB for Flores, and as a result, the Bill Belichick approach to QB coaching failed, leaving Tagovailoa scarred. Flores may have been right about the QB, but that should have stayed internal.
The hip injury should have been more of a concern
Drafting Tagovailoa over Hebert will be debated for a long time, but eventually, Dolphins fans will stop talking about it. What they won't stop talking about is the fact that the Dolphins took a major gamble on a player coming off a serious hip injury.
Tagovailoa's career at Alabama ended abruptly, but by the time the draft arrived, Tagovailoa was still rehabbing. That should have been a red flag, but it wasn't. His hip turned out fine, but it was a big risk that shouldn't have been taken. In 2024, Tagovailoa suffered another hip injury. Reportedly, on the other side. The problem is that Tagovailoa has changed the way he plays since his injury at Alabama. The Dolphins never saw that until it was too late.
Concussions after concussions
This will inevitably lead to our number one mistake that the Dolphins made, but it can't be passed over. One concussion typically isn't a big deal, but Tagovailoa suffered two, potentially three, in 2022. He played just 13 games that year as he sat out in the NFL's concussion protocol.
To this day, the images of him lying on the field in a "fencing" posture remain in everyone's minds. Now, he will have to convince another team that it isn't a problem. What did come out of this, however, was a change in the way he played on the field. In 2024, Tagovailoa suffered another early-season head injury. He did not play with the same conviction afterward. Had the Dolphins waited on that extension, they may never have handed it to him.
The contract that should never have been given
This could be broken down into a lot of sub-categories, but the reality is, Miami jumped the gun on the quarterback's contract. There was a lot of pressure from the Tagovailoa camp, and Mike McDaniel was at the forefront of pounding on Grier's door to get a deal done. The 2023 season was fresh in everyone's mind, but the health concerns had vanished.
Miami had the chance to play him on the 5th-year option. A $21 million deal that would have forced Tagovailoa to play at a high level in 2024. That would have given the Dolphins one more season of evaluation. They blew it, and now Jon-Eric Sullivan is paying for it. Well, actually, Stephen Ross is because he signed off on the deal.