Miami Dolphins star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has shown off his drastic new look with the 25-year-old now rocking a moustache.
The Dolphins squashed rumours linking them with a move for newly retired NFL great Tom Brady by picking up their fifth-year option for Tagovailoa's rookie contract. The option locks the quarterback into a fully-guaranteed salary of $23.2m (£18.9m) for the 2024 campaign - which is a big financial commitment.
The decision comes off the back of Tua’s best year of his career in 2022 as he led the NFL in passer rating (105.5). However, Tagovailoa has also had his fair share of injury concerns. He was limited to just 13 games as he struggled with concussions.
Tagovailoa is stepping up his bid to return to action for the Dolphins this offseason, and his hard work has also included growing out a moustache for a new look. The bold move was unveiled at his charity event over the weekend.
“Offseason training has been good,” Tagovailoa said. “Been working on strength in many areas and been chipping away at things I felt like I needed to work on to get to where I feel like I can get to in later parts of the season.… How do I feel now compared to a year ago? I’m smiling a lot more, so I would say good.”
The Dolphins will need Tagovailoa in top form if they’re to better last season’s finish. The Sunshine State-based NFL franchise will be looking to build on their 2022 AFC wild-card appearance when the team takes the field again in September.
Miami made one of the biggest moves of this offseason in March, trading with the Rams for three-time First-Team All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey. In exchange, the Rams got Hunter Long and a third-round pick in this year’s draft (No77 overall).
Miami once again has just four picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, the same amount as they had last year. The franchise originally had two first-round picks but are now left with none.
Last August, the team was forced to forfeit their first-round pick after they were found to be tampering with legend Brady and Sean Payton. Miami then traded away its other first round pick to the Broncos as part of the deal for LB Bradley Chubb. Deals for the acquisitions of Tyreek Hill and Jeff Wilson Jr also cost Miami a fourth and fifth-round pick respectively.
