Mike McDaniel wastes no time clearing up Tua Tagovailoa practice speculation

The Miami Dolphins opened training camp for veterans and as expected, Tua Tagovailoa showed up. The first practice for the team arrived and his participation has been a question mark. Tua is trying to get a new contract extension that will pay him as much as $55 million per season.

According to Mike McDaniel, the situation with Tua is an interesting one. McDaniel said that Tagovailoa's situation is still fluid, but that he will participate in drills. As McDaniel noted, his QB won't participate in every practice session, but he will still be out there:

Tua Tagovailoa is expected to be a limited participant at Dolphins camp

Ari Meirov said that he is unlikely to be a "full participant" in practices and that shouldn't be a surprise. Tagovailoa has to maintain some leverage in the negotiations with Chris Grier. Grier has never been a guy that rewards a player for showing up to practice and then negotiate in good faith, but his history does show he is more likely to do something when a player doesn't participate.

When Grier signed Byron Jones, the fallout with Xavien Howard led to a "hold-in" at practice, where he nursed an injury and stayed off the field. Grier restructured his contract, and Howard returned to practice. It set a horrible precedent, and now, Grier may find himself doing it all over again with his franchise quarterback.

Tagovailoa doesn't have much leverage this year. He can play on the fifth-year option and then see if the Dolphins use the franchise tag on him next season. That would pay him $42 million in 2025. That may sound great for Tagovailoa, but waiting until next year will surely cost the Dolphins more than it will this year.

Miami also needs to keep in mind that the market could change should Green Bay give Jordan Love an extension in the coming days. If Love's contract matches or exceeds those of Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence, Grier is going to have to get off his insistence on a lower deal.