Tua Tagovailoa’s latest concussion has raised some valid questions about the contract extension he signed with the Miami Dolphins in the offseason, but the team reportedly attached a key insurance policy to the deal.
Tagovailoa signed a 4-year, $212.4 million extension with the Dolphins in July. The deal includes $167.1 million in guaranteed money. As many have pointed out, Tagovailoa would be entitled to the entire guaranteed portion of the contract if doctors do not clear him to play in the wake of the concussion he suffered last week.
Of the roughly $167 million guaranteed, Tagovailoa has already been paid $43 million for 2024. If the former Alabama star were medically cleared but chose to retire, he would forego the remaining $124 million. Tua would still be paid in the event that doctors were to tell him he could not play:
While a full recovery is the only real focus here, in response to questions regarding Tua Tagovailoa's contract:
The deal includes $167M guaranteed for injury, $43M of which has been paid in 2024.
If he's medically cleared to return to football, but opts to retire, he will…
— Spotrac (@spotrac) September 13, 2024
That does not mean all of that money would come from the Dolphins. According to Over the Cap, the Dolphins have an insurance policy that would cover up to $49.3 million of the money Tagovailoa would be owed if the quarterback were not to receive the green light to play again.
Per source with knowledge of the #Dolphins contract with Tua, the team has insurance that would cover up to $49.3M of the $167.1M that is guaranteed for injury.
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) September 13, 2024
That meshes with what Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported on Saturday. Florio said the Dolphins had the option to purchase up to $49.3 million of insurance on Tagovailoa’s contract. The policy states that the full amount would be paid by the insurer if Tagovailoa were to suffer a football-related injury at some point between the time he signed the contract and the start of the offseason workout program in 2025. The maximum insurance payout decreases to $36.98 million after that and continues to drop each year.
While the policy is not specifically for concussions, that is probably what the Dolphins had in mind when they purchased it. Tagovailoa missed time in 2022 after suffering at least two concussions. He also had at least one concussion while playing for Alabama.
As of now, all signs point toward Tagovailoa trying to gain medical clearance, even if many prominent members of the NFL community have urged him to retire.
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