On one level, there’s no pressure on Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He’s won, via a second contract that fully guaranteed $93.71 million at signing and that saw another $54 million in 2026 injury guarantees convert to full guarantees earlier this year.
That’s $147.71 million that Tua will definitely make through 2026.
But here’s the question. Will he make it to 2026?
They have to pay him, but they don’t have to keep him. And if the 2025 season goes poorly, the Dolphins quite possibly won’t be keeping coach Mike McDaniel.
Given the tendency of teams that fire a head coach to hire a replacement who is the exact opposite from a personality standpoint, the next coach would be far closer to Brian Flores than McDaniel on the overall continuum of hardass/nice guy. And the new coach will arrive believing that Tua is the problem, not the solution.
And even if the new coach decides to keep Tua around for 2026, he’ll clearly be in an up-or-out season, given that as of 2026 only $3 million of his 2027 pay will be fully guaranteed.
Basically, this is the year for Tua to secure his short- and long-term future in Miami. If 2025 goes sideways, he may not have either, even if he ends up with a parting gift of $54 million.
