Tua Tagovailoa Will Be A Training Camp Hold-In So Pressure Is Now On Dolphins To Get Deal Done

So, Tua Tagovailoa is going to be a hold-in at training camp for the time being. And that should put a Bunsen burner flame under the Miami Dolphins to get the quarterback signed to a contract extension.

The Dolphins opened training camp on Wednesday and one of the first orders of business was not good news because it had nothing to do with preparing for a potential Super Bowl run, but rather, it had to do with the unsettled contract of the team's most important player.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 06: Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins celebrates a touchdown during the first half in the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on November 06, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Tagovailoa Deal ‘Not Imminent’

Tagovailoa, signed to a fifth-year option that expires at season's end, wants an extension. The Dolphins have made him multiple offers for an extension. The Tagovailoa side has not agreed to those and made at least two proposals of its own.

And no deal. 

"Not imminent unless something changes," a source texted of the talks.

"Everyone is trying their best to get a deal done," coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday.

So, Tagovailoa has reported to camp to avoid a $40,000 per day fine. And he's not going to participate in all the team's practice periods, ostensibly to protect himself against the possibility of an injury while in the middle of a negotiation.

And, also, to make the point he wants the contract negotiation wrapped up.

Mike McDaniel shared advice he tells players in light of Harrison Butker's speech. (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

McDaniel Says Practice Plan ‘Fluid’

"The plan is something that I think, you know, there's two parts to it: I think it's important to acknowledge that Tua is in the midst of a contract negotiation," McDaniel said. 

"… It's very fluid. We're taking it day by day," he added about Tagovailoa's practice participation.

There is a term for this "fluid" approach: Hold in. 

The example of this happened Wednesday when Tagovailoa skipped all but two snaps in 11 on 11 drills. The two snaps he participated in were handoffs.

This is not ideal. Because it has a much different feel than the negotiation that, say, Jordan Love is engaged in with the Green Bay Packers as he and that team also work on an extension.

Love, similarly holding in, sees an extension within reach. Tagovailoa's extension is apparently not as close.

Tagovailoa's negotiations seem more, how to put it, frustrating to – at least one side.

Because Tagovailoa, who believes he's done everything in his power that the Dolphins have asked short of win playoff games, deserves to be paid as one of the top three quarterbacks in the league.

And the Dolphins aren't ready to do that while also committing to Tagovailoa throughout the term of a contract.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JANUARY 13: Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins looks to pass during the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 13, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)

Are The Dolphins Hedging On Tua?

And here's the excellent question posed by long-time Dolphins beat writer Adam Beasley today to McDaniel: Why the hedging from the Dolphins?

The club has said at every opportunity that it loves Tagovailoa. Is committed to Tagovailoa. Believes in Tagovailoa.

This despite there being a sizable contingent of fans out there who do not share the opinion at all.

But when the club and Tagovailoa's representation talk, that full-on public commitment doesn't translate to offers that make the quarterback feel like the love narrative reaches into the business side of things.

That puts McDaniel, a major Tagovailoa advocate, in a strange situation.

"I'm very, very confident in my relationship with Tua and he can separate the business entity from, you know that, ultimately, he knows any way you cut it, our focus has to be what it looks like when he's playing football," McDaniel said.

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 04: Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass during the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on December 04, 2022 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Why Wasn't There A Deadline?

This is the business side of the game threatening to intrude on the football side. And it's the responsibility of everyone  involved to not have allowed this to become an issue.

Neither negotiating side put a deadline on getting a deal done by training camp. Everyone knows that, in the NFL, deadlines lead to solutions. But neither side said, "Let's push and either get it done by the start of training camp, or simply walk away until after the season."

A deadline would have introduced more urgency into negotiations.

Tagovailoa's hold in is an attempt to bring some of that previously required urgency. But if this negotiation that began as early as February and March, doesn't reach a conclusion, the urgency will hit critical mass.

The fact is it is terrible – not, unfortunate or challenging, but terrible – that the team's quarterback is in a spot where he feels he has skip parts of practice. 

So, he's not getting the best preparation possible – just to prove a point.

Josh Allen has 23 combined touchdowns this season. (Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

Bills And Jets Have Their QBs

There is no spinning this. None of it is good. Or profitable.

The New York Jets have their quarterback fully practicing. The Buffalo Bills have their quarterback practicing.

The Dolphins may be subbing their quarterback out of full team drills because a contract negotiation that should have been wrapped up by now is still not complete.

That's a bad way to open training camp.