The situation between Tua and the Dolphins seems to be worsening. On Day 1 of practice Wednesday, Tua participated in 7-on-7 drills and took two snaps in 11-on-11 drills (both handoffs). Today, on Thursday, Tua did not participate and just watched from the sideline, deciding not to work with the team. The rumor mill is stating it was a “veteran rest day,” which would make sense, but the fact that Tua didn’t do the full slate of drills on Wednesday and sat out the 11 on 11 drills, makes it questionable that Tua had a veteran rest day on only the second day of camp.
Tua and the Dolphins are at a contract standoff, and neither side appears to be close to budging and compromising on terms of a new deal.
Jeff Darlington of ESPN on Monday stated that negotiations weren’t even close a month ago, and the contract on the table Miami presented Tua earlier this offseason Tua didn’t perceive it as market value. Since then, both sides have been amicable and are “inching closer” to a deal.
Jeff said there is a “CLEAR DIVIDE” where the team is just not ready to commit that type of money necessary to Tua to get a deal done. Tua and his agents feel he shouldn’t have to take anything less than a top-of-the-market deal.
How the Dolphins will fully prepare for the upcoming season when their starting quarterback is not participating in any team drills or some days will only participate in certain team drills (and not the key and important 11-on-11 drills) is beyond me.
Tua Tagovailoa DID NOT work today. He watched everything.
No passes thrown on day 2. pic.twitter.com/JuVY2CJCEw
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) July 25, 2024
To be clear, I do not blame Tua for doing this; I think he and his agents are right about holding out/sitting in at practice. The Dolphins had seven months to figure out a new contract for their quarterback, and because they dragged their feet and procrastinated, Tua shouldn’t have to take a less-than-fair market deal.
That said, the longer this goes (and we are only at practice two), the worse this gets for the Dolphins. Mike White isn’t a starting quarterback, and his getting all of the first-team reps every day won’t prepare the offense for Week 1 and Jacksonville.
If Tua is “sitting in” and missing practices or choosing to sit out specific drills for a day or two or a week to prove a point, it’s not the end of the world. When we get to the joint practice with Atlanta in a couple of weeks, if this is still going on, then there is a real problem.
Suppose this goes into mid to late August, and this is how the practices are still being run with Tua essentially not involved. In that case, I think all Miami Dolphins fans may have to come to terms with Mike White being their Week 1 opening-day quarterback vs Jacksonville.
Training camp goes by in the blink of an eye; with new weapons added to Miami’s offense, each practice is valuable, and Tua is not getting on the same page with two or three new starting offensive linemen, new wide receivers like Malik Washington, and tight ends Jonnu Smith and Jody Fortsen is not good.
