This offseason, the Miami Dolphins don’t have to make a long-term call on their starting quarterback, but they do have to a decision for 2024.
Tua Tagovailoa’s fifth-year option needs to be either picked up or declined by May 2. If it were picked up, it’d keep him in Miami through the 2024 season, giving them more time to make a call long-term.
Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd, who’s been a Tagovailoa detractor, gave the Dolphins advice to stay away from that type of commitment.
“I would be terrified to sign Tua,” Cowherd said this week. “If he gets one more concussion, there will be an avalanche of voices saying ‘it’s over,’ including, maybe, medical professionals… Let’s say it’s the third week of September, Tua gets a serious concussion, you can’t play him until Thanksgiving… You can’t sign him to a long-term deal. You can’t do it.”
Cowherd’s right to be skeptical about Tagovailoa’s future. His concussion issues are very scary, and there’s a real chance that if he continues to sustain more of them, he could be done with football sooner than later.
At the same time, in his first year in the Mike McDaniel system, he looked like one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. If he can continue to grow and take that next step, he has a chance to prove a lot of people wrong.
Either way, the Dolphins have a decision to make, and it’s not going to be an easy one to make.
