The Miami Dolphins and Tua Tagovailoa this weekend agreed to terms on one of the most expensive contracts in NFL history. All told, the deal can be worth up to $212.4 million, and adds four years on to his contract beyond the 2024 season.
However, like more NFL deals, the figure Tagovailoa is guaranteed to make is far beneath the maximum possible value of his deal. According to Spotrac, Tagovailoa is guaranteed to make a touch more than $93 million.
Tagovailoa also took home a $42 million signing bonus as part of his new deal, and comes to an average annual value of $53.1 million, just ahead of Jared Goff and just behind the constellation of top-of-market quarterbacks.
And while the Dolphins are paying out a pretty penny for Tagovailoa in the long term, the move gives some short-term relief, lowering the quarterback’s salary cap hit to just $9.5 million for the 2024 season, according to Spotrac. That’s a decrease of $13.6 million, and a big bit of relief for a team that also has to pay out to the likes of Tyreek Hill with a cap hit north of $31 million in 2024. After the extension for Tagovailoa, the Dolphins now have $22 million in open salary cap room, according to Spotrac.
However, Tagovailoa’s cap hit takes a big leap going into the first year of the extension to his deal.
The full set of salary cap hits Tagovailoa is set to take up over the course of his deal is as follows, per Spotrac.
- 2024: $9.5 million
- 2025: $59.4 million
- 2026: $63.4 million
- 2027: $45.4 million
- 2028: $57.8 million
The deal is also slightly front loaded for how Tagovailoa is paid out. He’s set to earn $94.1 million across the first two years of his deal, the 5th-best two year cash flow, according to Spotrac, and make $149.1 million over three years, 3rd-best in terms of cash flow.
The year-to-year cash flow breakdown, via Spotrac, is as follows.
- 2024: $43.125 million
- 2025: $51 million
- 2026: $55 million
- 2027: $37 million
- 2028: $49.4 million
The general structure of the deal, particularly the cash flow, seems to indicate the Dolphins — and Tagovailoa’s camp, for that matter — could be back at the negotiating table after the 2026 season. Or, if things don’t keep on an upward trajectory on the field, the Dolphins could have a way out.
And given the way the salary cap is continually rising, a $37 million commitment to a quarterback in 2027 will likely seem paltry when the time comes.
