Why Tua Tagovailoa will sign his mega-deal before public training camp starts

Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins need to get things done ASAP.
Miami Dolphins Mandatory Minicamp
Miami Dolphins Mandatory Minicamp / Megan Briggs/GettyImages
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Veterans of the Miami Dolphins are about to report to training camp and the only thing that currently matters is whether or not Tua Tagovailoa will show up or not. The back and forth between his camp and the Miami brass on whether or not a long-term deal will be reached has gone on for months.

It's something many people figured would have been figured out weeks ago, but here we are with things totally up in the air and camp here. Seemingly every day another report from an NFL insider states that the Dolphins and Tagovailoa are not very close to reaching a deal where everyone feels good.

We don't know, naturally, what the hold up is exactly - whether it's a guaranteed money thing, if it's the amount of years included, or if the Dolphins want safeguards in the contract that help them out if their star QB gets injured.

The Dolphins need to make Tua Tagovailoa happy as soon as possible

Here's what we'll say in our best Jim Fassel claiming that the Giants are going to the Super Bowl voice: Tagovailoa will have a deal before July 28, which is when training camp sessions that are open to the public begin.

Enough is enough. All parties involved are aware of how important both sides are to one another. Tagovailoa needs to get a deal done because he obviously is not going to want to play on the fifth-year option, which pays him $23 million for this year. Sure, $23 million is a ton of money, but it's not even half of what Tagovailoa's camp wants. Projections have Tagovailoa in the $50-55 million range per season, which would put him in line with Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence.

The Dolphins need to get this deal done because what else are they going to do? Do you think they'll go with Mike White? Do you think Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and the rest of the guys will be down for that and will simply go about business without voicing their concerns for too long? Not a chance.

There is the option of Tagovailoa holding out as well. We haven't seen a real deal holdout since Le'Veon Bell did it in 2018 and he sat out the entire season. That decision didn't work out at all for him. However, it's also hard to imagine Tagovailoa practicing and risking injury without a long-term deal in place.

Tagovailoa's teammates, including Hill and Terron Armstead, are pushing for things to get done soon. They know how important the QB is to this team. As for Tagovailoa, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would want to not be with his teammates when training camp truly starts. He knows the circus that would bring to the Dolphins ability to have a normal camp and for his teammates to have a normal camp. The team knows that as well.

Things are getting down to the wire and a lot of uncertainty is on the table. Maybe Jordan Love will sign a monster deal first? That would not be ideal for Chris Grier, but it could end up happening. Hopefully, this Tagovailoa contract gets done within the next 10 minutes and the team can focus on how they're going to improve and find a way to take down the Bills. Well, maybe it won't be finalized that quickly, but it should get wrapped up by the end of July.

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