Sixth-year Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has demonstrated moments of brilliance as Miami’s starting signal-caller.
During the 2023 campaign, Tagovailoa passed for 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns en route to his lone Pro Bowl nod. Tagovailoa was the NFL’s passing yards leader that season as Miami made a second straight playoff appearance with an 11-6 regular season mark.
In 2023, the Dolphins boasted the NFL’s No. 1 total offense, the No. 1 passing offense, the No. 2 scoring offense and the No. 6 rushing offense.
But, Tagovailoa has battled the injury bug throughout his career and his absences during the 2024 season directly led to the Dolphins’ disappointing 8-9 finish.
In ESPN’s 32 questions for 32 NFL quarterbacks, Dan Graziano asks if this is a make-or-break year for Tagovailoa.
Not really, since he has $54 million in guaranteed money coming in 2026. But the Miami offense took a step back last season, and the Dolphins missed the playoffs for the first time in three years under coach Mike McDaniel. Tagovailoa’s 60.3 QBR ranked 15th. How and whether Tagovailoa and McDaniel recover from a down year will go a long way toward determining how pointed next offseason’s questions will be about Tagovailoa. – Graziano, ESPN.
Tagovailoa inked a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension in July of 2024 that ties him to South Florida through the 2028 NFL season. That 2028 campaign would just be Tagovailoa’s age-30 season.
The best-case scenario for the Dolphins is that Tagovailoa does a better job mitigating injury risks and resembles that 2023 version of himself as a byproduct. With one of the league’s top duos at receiver in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, the expectation should be that Miami morphs back into one of the NFL’s best offenses with a healthy Tagovailoa pulling the strings.
But, if the 2025 campaign goes sideways, there’s no telling what the collective front office might think about the direction the franchise is headed in and whether or not Tagovailoa is the Dolphins’ quarterback of the future.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: ESPN dissects what Dolphins need to answer about QB situation in 2025
Reporting by Josh Helmer, Dolphins Wire / Dolphins Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
