Report: Tua Tagovailoa away from Dolphins amid contract chatter

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa may or may not be sending a message regarding a possible contract extension with his activities this spring. 

"Tagovailoa has been absent for the large majority of voluntary offseason work since the Dolphins reported back April 15," CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones reported, citing sources, for a piece published Friday. "That is in stark contrast to his first four seasons in the league when Tagovailoa was present for most of the voluntary work. Sources believe his absence is related to his contract status."

Tagovailoa remains set to play this season on the fifth-year-option worth $23.171M attached to his rookie contract. Last month, he said he would not be "telling anyone what I’m doing this offseason" because he is "a very private person" and wanted to keep such plans "in-house." 

Tagovailoa made 17 regular-season starts for the first time as a pro this past campaign and, per Pro-Football-Reference, led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards. However, his lengthy injury history has caused some to wonder if the Dolphins will try to protect themselves either by adding a so-called "escape clause" to a contract extension or by retaining his rights for 2025 via the franchise tag. 

Tagovailoa suffered a minimum of two reported concussions during the 2022 season and admitted last spring he "discussed the idea of retiring from football" with family members following those setbacks. He bulked up and trained in jiu-jitsu in an attempt to stay healthy, but there's no way of knowing how he would recover from another worrisome head injury. 

"He did show up to the facilities early during offseason work, and the team captured him on the field on April 19," Jones added about Tagovailoa. "But how long he's willing to stay away is unclear. Should this stretch into training camp, Tagovailoa would be subject to a $40,000 fine for every day he's absent, but a league source indicated the Dolphins could reduce the fine or waive it entirely."

"Voluntary" is the key word attached to sessions Tagovailoa has thus far skipped. According to Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post, the Dolphins' mandatory minicamp is scheduled to run from June 4 through June 6. Training camp will open at some point in late July.