The Miami Dolphins extended Tua Tagovailoa on Friday, and his contract extension is actually quite the bargain. The Dolphins are the latest team to extend their quarterback. This time, Tua Tagovailoa gets his own deal, and is now earning over $53 million per season on a four-year deal.
That makes two young QBs in the AFC to sign mega-contract extensions this offseason. Recently, Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars signed a five-year, $275 million deal, which comes out to $55 million per season. Lawrence's deal is right at the top of the market and is tied with Joe Burrow as the richest deal for a QB in NFL history.
Here's the thing, though;
Through their respective careers, it's not close; Tua Tagovailoa has been the much better quarterback than Trevor Lawrence, so in that regard, Tagovailoa's deal is a huge bargain. Let's dive into some numbers. Yes, statistics can sometimes be misleading, but the discrepancy here is too big to not talk about further.
Since Trevor Lawrence was a rookie in 2021, we can compare them through the past three NFL seasons. For Tua Tagovailoa, since 2021, he is credited with a 26-16 record, throwing for 10,825 yards, 70 touchdowns, and 32 interceptions. He's earned a 99.2 passer rating during that time and has thrown for 251.7 yards per game since 2021.
Those numbers are excellent folks.
Now, for Trevor Lawrence, it's a bit different. Since 2021, Lawrence is credited with a 20-30 record, throwing for 11,770 yards, 58 touchdowns, 39 interceptions, and a passer rating of 85. He's thrown for 235.4 yards per game during that stretch.
There really isn't any debating here; Tua Tagovailoa has been a significantly more productive QB during the last three years. What Tagovailoa got on his contract extension and what Lawrence got on his don't really match up based on their recent production.