MIAMI GARDENS — Tua wins.
And, by proxy, so do the Miami Dolphins.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa agreed to terms with the team Friday on a reported four-year, $212 million contract extension with $167 million guaranteed.
Now, finally, the Dolphins can focus on getting better on the field.
That wasn’t going to happen with Tua not practicing.
No way.
This offense wasn’t going to get better without Tua.
Fans didn’t see the Dolphins’ offense in training camp without Tua. Thursday’s practice was closed to the public.
I saw the practice.
It wasn’t terrible. Backup quarterback Mike White was fairly sharp.
But Thursday’s practice surely wasn’t what you wanted to see from a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
In fact, it might have underscored the importance of getting a contract extension finished.
Thursday’s practice might have been a catalyst for finalizing this deal.
I like White and third-team quarterback Skylar Thompson (I don’t know Gavin Hardison, the undrafted rookie from Texas-El Paso).
But White and Thompson aren’t Tagovailoa.
They don’t direct the offense as smoothly or efficiently.
They can’t make the split-second reads, they don’t have the uncanny anticipation, and they can’t make the accurate throws.
Consequently, the Dolphins’ offense definitely didn’t get better Thursday, the first day Tua sat out an entire training camp practice due to his contract extension dispute.
The Dolphins’ offense might have gotten marginally better Wednesday, the first day Tua only had partial training camp practice participation.
But the offense definitely showed improvement Friday when Tagovailoa returned to practice for the entire session.
Heck, the offense was humming at a high level Friday.
Players were fired up.
You could see it.
You could almost feel it.
They love Tua.
They respect Tua.
They respond to Tua, who wears No. 1 as his uniform number.
“You love all of your quarterbacks,” linebacker Anthony Walker said after Friday’s practice, “but it’s a different feeling when ‘1’ is in there and I think the guys feel that.”
You want more?
Listen to cornerback Kendall Fuller.
“He’s impressive,” Fuller said. “He’s always looking impressive on Sundays, but it’s different once you get to see somebody on a day-to-day basis, just their mental, how they process information, how he processes defenses. You can just tell his intent with every snap that he takes. So it’s been fun to see him, learn from him and watch him compete.”
Offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg shared similar praise.
“It was great,” he said. “It was good having him out there. You kinda feel the energy and hear everything that’s going on.”
Tua is now running with the big boys financially.
With an average annual value (AAV) of the contract extension at $53 million a year, he got his bag and then some.
It’s the biggest contract in Dolphins franchise history.
It’s the eighth-highest amount of guaranteed money in NFL history, and it makes Tua the league’s third-highest paid quarterback according to AAV behind Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, who are at $55 million apiece.
Does this contract extension put more pressure on Tua to win a Super Bowl?
Or even win a playoff game?
I’m not sure that’s the expectation among Dolphins fans. It’s a hope, but not necessarily an expectation.
I think a certain number of Dolphins fans understand only one team can win the Super Bowl every year. And they understand pro sports, at the end of the day, is an entertainment business.
So as long as the Dolphins are entertaining and in the running to get to the Super Bowl, that’s good enough.
I don’t think the 2024 season is the year in which Dolphins fans, while watching the highest-paid QB-WR-WR trio in NFL history, demand huge things from their team.
I think the 2024 season is a time for Dolphins fans to enjoy the good times.
After a sometimes contentious negotiation, Tua is under contract for the next five years.
Happy days are here again.