Dolphins QB Tagovailoa agrees to rookie deal

The Miami Dolphins have come to an agreement with the first of the team’s three 2020 first-round picks, locking up former Alabama standout Tua Tagovailoa to a four-year deal that features a team-option for the fifth year.

Tagovailoa, who was selected fifth-overall in April’s NFL draft despite suffering a season-ending right hip injury in November, will receive $30.28 million over the first four years of the deal, according to a league source.

He’ll receive a signing bonus of $19,578,500, and all four years of his contract are fully guaranteed. That means if Tagovailoa suffers a medical setback that ends his career prematurely or the Dolphins choose to release him before the deal expires, he’ll receive all of the remaining $10.7 million owed, which is standard for players selected in the first round.

The Dolphins can trigger the fifth-year option in Tagovailoa’s contract in May of 2023, and it commits to pay Tagovailoa a salary that’s north of $24.8 million for the 2024 season. That price would go up by 2023 because it pays each player selected in the top 10 a salary equaling the transition tag amount the year the option was exercised.

The fifth-year option is only guaranteed for injury until the first day of the 2024 league year.

That means if Tagovailoa has a productive NFL career as a starter by the start of the 2023 season, the Dolphins will have paid him more than $55 million for the first five years of his NFL career.