In early 2024, Miami Dolphins The Dolphins signed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212.4 million contract, making him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL. In 2023, Tagovailoa played an entire season without missing a start and was fully healthy, so the Dolphins elected to extend his contract.
Tagovailoa suffered another concussion Thursday night against the Buffalo Bills, leading some in NFL circles to urge him to retire. However, early reports suggest he has no plans to do so.Needless to say, his current and future health is far more important than the wallets of NFL owners or the salary caps of NFL teams. That being said, the financial ramifications of this are subtle and will undoubtedly impact how the QB and his contract progresses over the next 18 months.
Media reports say Tagovailoa received $167 million in “guarantees” as part of the deal, but let's dig a little deeper into what that means.
NFL contracts have two types of guarantees: full guarantees and injury guarantees. The two are usually lumped together in these media reports to make the player's agent who is leaking the information look better. Full guarantees are paid regardless of the player's performance and are only voided if the contract is breached by being suspended for violating the league's substance abuse or personal conduct policies (they are also not paid if the player retires). Injury guarantees are only paid if the player is medically cleared and his career is over.
Tagovailoa's fully guaranteed amount is $93.17 million (not $167 million), which includes his 2024 signing bonus, 2024 salary, 2025 roster bonus and 2025 salary. Of that, $42 million of his signing bonus has already been paid and his salary for this season is $1.125 million, meaning he has roughly $50 million of fully guaranteed money left to be paid.
Meanwhile, about $124 million in injury compensation remains to be paid.
If Tagovailoa goes through the NFL's concussion protocol (As he is said to be planning), he is no longer considered “injured” for injury compensation purposes, and therefore must forfeit all future money, guaranteed or not, if he retires. The after-effects of an injury do not rise to the level of injury compensation as long as he is allowed to play. It is only paid in a “must retire” situation, not in a “should retire” situation. As Over the Cap says.
If for some reason Tagovailoa is medically cleared, Miami would have to pay the remaining $124 million in injury guarantees. They could split that cap hit between the 2025 and 2026 seasons to make it more manageable, and would likely be on the PUP list for that period to manage the cap impact. Part of that cap hit would be offset by the team's insurance. According to Over the Cap.
There's one other contractual consideration: His $54 million in 2026 compensation goes from injury guaranteed to fully guaranteed in mid-March 2025, meaning at least one looming deadline for the Dolphins to make a medium-term commitment to the quarterback.
If he comes clean and Miami releases him before the compensation is fully guaranteed, Miami will only have to pay the remaining $50 million it currently owes him and will not be obligated to pay another $54 million.
If Tagovailoa were to retire now after being given the medical clearance, he would have made $73 million in his NFL career but would not be paid any more.
