Report details how Dolphins protected themselves with Tua Tagovailoa contract

It was learned on Tuesday that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will miss at least the Miami Dolphins' next four games while on injured reserve as he recovers from yet another worrisome concussion. 

For a piece published Wednesday, ESPN's Dan Graziano shared how the Dolphins somewhat protected themselves when they signed Tagovailoa to a massive four-year, $212.4M deal earlier this summer. 

"The Dolphins have $49.3M worth of insurance on Tagovailoa's $212.4M contract...according to the copy of the contract that I obtained," Graziano explained. "The policy would apply if Tagovailoa is not cleared by doctors to return to play and would help offset the remaining $124M in injury-guaranteed money the Dolphins would be obligated to pay if he's not cleared by doctors to return to the field."

While Tagovailoa started in every regular season game for the first time as a pro last season, some argued that Miami shouldn't lock him down via a long-term deal due to the fact that he suffered a minimum of two reported concussions during the 2022 campaign. Tagovailoa admitted in April 2023 that he considered retiring during that offseason, but the 26-year-old reportedly wants to return to the Miami lineup this season assuming he can get cleared to play by medical experts. 

"If Tagovailoa suffers a career-ending injury before the 2025 offseason program," Graziano continued, "the Dolphins have insurance against $30M of his $42M signing bonus, $10M of his 2025 salary and $9.3M of his 2026 salary. The amount of insurance they have drops if the injury occurs in future years to account for more time having passed since the signing bonus." 

Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac pointed out that Tagovailoa would "forego the remaining $124M guaranteed (barring a custom settlement)" attached to his deal if he is medically cleared to play in the NFL again but chooses to retire. With that said, the Spotrac website shows that Tagovailoa has already earned over $73M from just NFL contracts since 2020. 

Theoretically, Tagovailoa shouldn't be hurting for money anytime soon. 

For now, all that's really known about Tagovailoa's playing future is that he won't take a meaningful snap for the Dolphins before Week 8 at the earliest (Miami's bye is Week 6). Additionally, it appears Tom Brady won't leave the Fox broadcast booth to replace Tagovailoa atop Miami's depth chart this fall.