Tua Tagovailoa is not holding in, separating the Dolphins‘ top negotiation from multiple others around the NFL. This includes Jordan Love‘s Packers arrangement, which has become a hold-in situation. Despite Tagovailoa having a longer track record than Love, the fifth-year passer went through Dolphins workouts Wednesday. This did come with a notable exception. Tagovailoa took only two reps (both handoffs) in Dolphins team drills to open camp, per ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s camp workload — absent an extension — would compare to OTAs; the lefty did not go through team drills then or during minicamp. We heard Monday this would likely be the route Tagovailoa takes.
The Dolphins have been negotiating with Tua for months, and while some optimism has emerged, Miami’s QB1 has turned down at least one offer and may have seen the team dig in on a price south of Trevor Lawrence‘s $55MM-per-year deal. Lawrence receiving $142MM may also be much higher than the Dolphins want to go. McDaniel said (via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson) both sides are “relentlessly” working on this agreement. The parties still have time to hammer out a deal before the season, but the longer this goes, the closer Tua comes to carrying a lofty franchise tag number (upwards of $40MM) on Miami’s 2025 cap sheet.
Here is the latest QB news coming out of training camp:
- Aaron Rodgers confirmed a trip to Egypt indeed led to his missing minicamp and confirmed the Jets fined him for the unexcused absences. Rodgers has been criticized for a lack of leadership by skipping the offseason’s only mandatory workout, but he said his relationship with Robert Saleh has been unaffected. “I’m an adult; I knew what I was getting into,” Rodgers said, via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini. “I knew the fine that was coming and also knew how much I wanted to be in Egypt. I wish there hadn’t been a conflict scheduling-wise, but it was what it was.” Rodgers, who said be based the trip on the Jets’ 2023 offseason schedule, had shown up for OTAs prior to the abrupt — to the public, at least — departure.
- Jayden Daniels does not have Commanders first-string reps to himself just yet; the No. 2 overall pick is splitting them with free agency addition Marcus Mariota, the Washington Post’s Sam Fortier notes. While Dan Quinn is labeling this a QB competition, Fortier cautions that Daniels is all but assured of the starting job. This follows a report that pointed to the Commanders indeed feeling no real reason to hold back the 2023 Heisman winner by giving Mariota bridge work.
- Although the Daniels-Mariota split may deprive the highly touted rookie from early reps, Washington is holding an actual battle for the No. 3 spot. The team is pitting rookie UDFA Sam Hartman against veteran Jeff Driskel, Fortier adds. The former Notre Dame starter, who has a safety net via the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions’ recent draft choice, played behind Driskel to start camp. It is not yet clear if the Commanders plan to keep three QBs, but the winner of this battle would stand to at least be the team’s emergency option in the event only two are rostered.
- Prior to the USFL and XFL merging, Ben DiNucci played in the former league’s second season and spent last year as the Broncos’ third-stringer. The recent Russell Wilson teammate worked out for the 13-year vet’s new team this week, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, who notes the Steelers brought in the veteran. Pittsburgh has Kyle Allen in place behind Wilson and Justin Fields presently.
