Following the team’s announcement on Tuesday that the former Alabama standout quarterback had signed his rookie contract, Tua Tagovailoa is now officially a Miami Dolphin.
Tagovailoa will get $30.275 million guaranteed over four years under the NFL rookie scale. A nearly $19.6 million signing bonus and a fifth-year option through 2024 are included in the agreement.
With the fifth overall pick in this month’s NFL draft, Miami chose Tagovailoa, the runner-up for the 2018 Heisman Trophy, with the hopes of acquiring the franchise quarterback the organization had been searching for since Dan Marino’s retirement in 1999.
The Dolphins are the only club to have had a different quarterback start ten or more games in each of the previous three seasons, and they haven’t had a quarterback qualify for the Pro Bowl since Marino in 1995.
On their official website, they verified the completed transaction, saying the following: “The Miami Dolphins today announced they have signed the following four draft picks: first-round quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, second-round defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, fifth-round defensive end Curtis Weaver, and sixth-round long snapper Blake Ferguson.
In mid-November of his junior year at Alabama, Tagovailoa dislocated his right hip, ending his collegiate career. However, he was cleared to resume football workouts in March, and on April 9, he hosted a virtual pro day for NFL teams.
With a passer rating of 206.9 and a completion percentage of 71.4%, the 22-year-old quarterback led the FBS rankings in 2019 with 33 touchdown passes and just three interceptions. After throwing for 3,966 yards and 43 touchdowns in 15 games as a sophomore the previous season, Tagovailoa came in second to 2019 number one overall pick Kyler Murray in the Heisman Trophy voting.
In March, Miami signed veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick again, providing insurance to the Dolphins in the event that Tagovailoa is not judged ready to begin the
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