Tua Tagovailoa expressed gratitude and appreciation for the “life-changing” contract he signed with the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. But he knows it comes with pressure and expectations too.
“Now that all of this is done, this is behind us, we know heavy is the crown,” Tagovailoa said. “Like right now, I’m the highest paid employee in this in this office. I’ve got to get my whatever together, I’ve got to get that right and get our guys moving in the direction that we need to go, to be able to do those things.”
Tagovailoa, 26, earned the four-year, $212.4 million contract by putting together an uber-efficient 2023 season with an NFL-leading 4,624 passing yards. He threw a career-best 29 touchdowns and earned Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his career.
But Tagovailoa also threw four interceptions in the last two games of the regular season and completed only 51.3 percent of his passes in the Dolphins’ playoff loss. Tagovailoa averaged 298.5 passing yards in Miami’s 11 wins, but 192.5 in the team’s seven total losses.
“We haven’t won the games that we’ve wanted to win,” Tagovailoa said. “All of [the stats are] cool, but I could’ve been the worst, had the worst passer rating, I could’ve threw for a thousand yards — if we were in the those games and we were winning those big-time games and we got to go and win the championship, I’d trade all of that. I’d trade all of that for that.”
The Dolphins are married to Tagovailoa now after dishing out the largest deal in franchise history. But that doesn’t mean Miami will be that patient with the quarterback if the team continues to struggle under the brightest lights.
