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The Tua Dilemma...


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There's a thread simmering on Fins Heaven entitled "Do not resign Tua".   It seems about evenly split on the proposition (link below).

 

Tua is currently playing on the fourth year of his rookie contract at $9 million this year.  They exercised his 5th year option and next year he will be on the books for $23 million fully guaranteed (link below).  The question is what to do afterwards?

 

I don't think there's a good answer for the Dolphins, either overpay a QB who probably isn't good enough to get you to a Super Bowl, or head back to wandering in the QB desert hoping to get lucky.   

 

With the escalation in QB contracts the Dolphins will be looking at $50 million a year to keep Tua.  Look at the last several QB contracts yearly average (link below).  Where do you slot Tua in when it's his turn?

 

Burrow;  $55 million

Herbert; $52.5  million

Lamar;  $52 million

Hurts;  $51 million

Wilson;  $49 million

Murray;  $46.1 million

 

There's a quote in the thread which pretty closely mirrors my opinion on the situation with Tua; 

 

"We're in the Daniel Jones no-man's land where we're gonna have to sign him since there's no one else and we're not going to be able to do it on the cheap so we're gonna be investing a lot of money in one guy who we're not even really sure is the guy since he has yet to actually ball out in a big game"

 

 

https://finheaven.com/threads/do-not-resign-tua.381887/

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/miami-dolphins/tua-tagovailoa-47598/

https://overthecap.com/position/quarterback

 

 

 

Edited by Inigo Montoya
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Let’s hope so. Tyreek will only have his game breaking speed for so long, Waddle is very good but not great and Mostert is older as well. Let the fish tie up a boatload of the cap to a noodle armed injury prone QB who can’t win big games.

 

Also, the least they could do is overpay him after actively trying to get him killed last year. Yeesh..

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What else are they going to do? Sign joe Flacco to throw bombs to Tyreek for one year? Who else is out there. Russel Wilson? Gardner minshew? Baker mayfield?

 

They are like the cowboys with Dak. They have no choice but to sign him long term. 
 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, QB Bills said:

Lots of needless Tua hate. He's a pretty good QB. And seems like a nice kid too. Hope he gets his.

I don’t think it’s hate at all lol everyone is saying what you are saying…he’s pretty good but they’re gonna have to pay him like he’s excellent hence the dilemma 

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20 minutes ago, QB Bills said:

Lots of needless Tua hate. He's a pretty good QB. And seems like a nice kid too. Hope he gets his.

Nobody is hating him. And being a "pretty good QB" is exactly the problem. He is like Kirk Cousins or Dak Prescott. Good enough to have a good regular season and get to the playoffs sometimes, but not good enough to win a Super Bowl. Not good enough to be able to put the team on his back and will them to victory.

 

Teams with a QB like that usually have to pay them, but then never end up going anywhere in the long run until they move on.

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Tua will sign for mid 40’s on a short term, two or three year deal, and the guarantees will be low. No team is going to offer him more, especially with his concussion history. If he can stay healthy it will be a good deal for Miami. Tua is a good QB.

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Who says he can't get them there? He's not Brady or Mahomes, but Flacco, Wilson, Eli Manning, Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer all won Super Bowls. He's in that league for sure. Heck the Bills lost SBs to Jeff Hostetler and Mark Rypien.

 

You don't throw away Tua when you have nothing else.

 

What they need to do is improve their defense, especially the coaching. 

 

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You have to pay him. It is about structuring it as cleverly as possible to limit the length of the true commitment to 2-3 years max. The AAV is the flashy figure and that will be in the $50m range. But this contract is all about the structure and the guarantees. 

 

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I like Tua. He's a high character young man, on and off the field. He's not a bad QB, but he's not a great QB. It is similar to the Daniel Jones situation in a way, but I think Tua is the better passer of the two.

 

Two things stand out though. One, he is fragile. One more concussion could end his career. That scene against the Bengals last year was scary. And his lengthy injury history goes all the way back to college. Two, he seems to disappear in the moments you'd expect a $50M QB to show up. Tua has two actual game winning drives in his NFL career. Both came in 2021 and both were against the Jets. There is nothing about Tua that strikes fear into another team. Have you ever heard anyone, announcers, analysts, bobbleheads, opposing team's players, coaches, I mean anyone say, "We don't want to leave Tua too much time,"? I haven't. I've heard them say it about Mahomes, JA, Lamar, Hurts, Burrow, and even Stafford, but never Tua. 

 

He's a solid QB in the perfect offensive system for his skillset, but nothing about him is elite. The Dolphins will be forced to pay him unless they are fortunate enough to find a QB who outperforms his draft position. Can't say it will hurt my feelings when the Dolphins cut that check. 

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4 hours ago, Virgil said:

Tua will get paid and it will be 50 mil per at least.  
 

Do I think he deserves it?  No.  But I also didn’t think Hurts did either. 


Totally agree.
 

The advantage that Allen/Mahomes has is they can make something out of nothing at times. Even in reset years it means that they will always have a chance. 
 

KC and Buffalo likely misses the playoffs with Tua at QB. 

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They can push the decision down the road a year by letting him play out his 5th year option next year and then slapping the franchise tag on him the following year. I'd even use the same non exclusive tag that the Ravens put on Lamar. Pretty safe as I don't see anyone giving up 2 firsts and a huge contract for Tua and it lets him see what his value is around the league. 

 

While I don't think he's a "$50 million dollar QB" I do believe his worth is much higher to the Dolphins in that system than he would be to any other team.

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5 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

What else are they going to do? Sign joe Flacco to throw bombs to Tyreek for one year? Who else is out there. Russel Wilson? Gardner minshew? Baker mayfield?

 

They are like the cowboys with Dak. They have no choice but to sign him long term. 
 

 

 

The Cowboys have Trey Lance on his rookie deal. I wouldn't be shocked if they move on from Dak tbh. 

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They have no other choice. I look at two QB's: Hertz and Purdy.

 

Switch the two and there is little difference. Put them on any other team and there is no improvement.

 

The opposite is true for Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrough 

 

Both are very good but both are limited on their ceiling.

 

Jackson isn't a 2+ read QB. Burrough is not a 17 year QB. But both enhance their team. 

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Ambiguously, you’re winning a game more than losing with Tua in that offense and with the way QB contracts are going he is going to make $40-50m p/a. 
 

Tua is like marmite I guess. 

10 minutes ago, Bogie_Klinkhammer said:

If I was a Dolphin fan the concussions would scare the sheet out of me. That guaranteed money could be a killer. 


Not having some semblance of a QB should scare them more…

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5 hours ago, Scott7975 said:

They have to pay him.  They don't really have options.

The thing is though, Miami is $50m OVER the Cap now and MANY Dolphins contracts are expiring after the season. Compound this with a near completely bare cupboard for Draft picks due to their ‘All In To Beat Buffalo’ mantra and the end of this desperate and hopeful choice will reap zero rewards if we win Sunday. We’re known to bash Beane for filling our roster with ‘good not great’ players and being patient with their development, but our scheme is effective in today’s NFL. The Dolphins will field a much less talented roster next year and beyond. Re-Signing ‘Turnaballova’ will just make them our beotch even longer. They chose to go All In and they’re gonna pay the Piper for it. Jets giving away the farm for their egomaniac, flighty and washed up QB has them in the same boat with no oars. If we can win Sunday night, we COULD see a Division dominance that rivals Brady’s NE* days.

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Personally I like Tua.  He is a good dude and is better than most fans here give him credit for.  I also don’t see him as much of a threat!  But yes, he likely isn’t good enough to carry a team the way a $50 million a year guy needs to.

 

that’s where I think these QBs would be better off long term, accepting less money.  Mahomes is in every single ad.  Tom Brady is getting $375 million to Broadcast with NBC.  I doubt those deals happen without WINNING.

 

Mahomes obviously is lacking WR talent this year, just like Josh is.  If they took less salary, and got assurances from the team they’d bring in some playmakers, it would help the team win and help them look good — the same way hill and waddle make Tua look good.  They’d earn the money back in endorsements, TV deals, jersey sales, etc.

 

Anyway, Tua or a QB like him, would be smart to sign for 30-35 a year instead of 50.  Win more, get more endorsements, get more of a fan base, improve your brand, land the TV gig…. 

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6 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

What else are they going to do? Sign joe Flacco to throw bombs to Tyreek for one year? Who else is out there. Russel Wilson? Gardner minshew? Baker mayfield?

 

They are like the cowboys with Dak. They have no choice but to sign him long term. 
 

 

 

 

Kirk Cousins would thrive with their weapons.

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6 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

There's a thread simmering on Fins Heaven entitled "Do not resign Tua".   It seems about evenly split on the proposition (link below).

 

Tua is currently playing on the fourth year of his rookie contract at $9 million this year.  They exercised his 5th year option and next year he will be on the books for $23 million fully guaranteed (link below).  The question is what to do afterwards?

 

I don't think there's a good answer for the Dolphins, either overpay a QB who probably isn't good enough to get you to a Super Bowl, or head back to wandering in the QB desert hoping to get lucky.   

 

With the escalation in QB contracts the Dolphins will be looking at $50 million a year to keep Tua.  Look at the last several QB contracts yearly average (link below).  Where do you slot Tua in when it's his turn?

 

Burrow;  $55 million

Herbert; $52.5  million

Lamar;  $52 million

Hurts;  $51 million

Wilson;  $49 million

Murray;  $46.1 million

 

There's a quote in the thread which pretty closely mirrors my opinion on the situation with Tua; 

 

"We're in the Daniel Jones no-man's land where we're gonna have to sign him since there's no one else and we're not going to be able to do it on the cheap so we're gonna be investing a lot of money in one guy who we're not even really sure is the guy since he has yet to actually ball out in a big game"

 

 

https://finheaven.com/threads/do-not-resign-tua.381887/

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/miami-dolphins/tua-tagovailoa-47598/

https://overthecap.com/position/quarterback

 

 

 

Pay Me GIF

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I think they have to pay him. They are in the same boat as the Bills in terms of salary cap, but with even more long term vets likely on the chopping block. One of the easiest ways for them to make cap space is to sign him to a long term deal and kick the can down the road on the cap hit (like we do with Josh). And ultimately, what are their options? Do they wait for the unicorn of a better QB hitting free agency? Do they trade for a guy...like the Brown and Broncos (who were supposed to be stacked outside of QB and see how that has worked out)? With Tua they are good enough that they will need to pick outside of the top 10 for a while unless they start stockpiling picks like the Bills did and even then the draft is always a crap shoot.

 

I will call the Dolphins frauds like I call the Cowboys frauds, and there is a reason why the 'Boys have been spinning their wheels: they have a bit above average QB, but who demands to be paid as if he is a top 5. I predict the Dolphins will overpay on Tua and then run into a wall in a few years when they realize that it's hard to pay Tua AND Hill AND Waddle

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