The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

Tua Tagovailoa - $22.4 million (playtime escalator included)
Austin Jackson - $14.8 million (playtime escalator included)
Noah Igbinoghene - $11.3 million

Teams must decide at the end of the 3rd season if they will pick up the 5th season option. Only first rounders have the 5th year option.

To me, these are the easiest decisions in the entire league. Tua isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so that's a pickup. Austin Jackson sucks and missed almost the whole seaosn with an ankle sprain. Declined. Noah can't even see the field when we're down to what, our 7th stringers in the secondary? Declined. Fax in the form that says declined, email it and then call up the NFL offices to make sure they got the declined notices. Ask for the person's name and also record the conversation.

All these guys will be on the team next season as it's Year 4 for them, but Year 5 is a different story.

Yeah, I think you're probably right.

Yes, No, No is the only sane route

For Tua ... it's a 22 million gamble for the Dolphins. If he does play year 5 and can't play they loe 22 million. If he plays lights out next year and you want to retain him afterwards by having to franchise him it will cost you twice that amount.

The other two can go pound sand.

If they decline it, they are telling him he isn't the future and they run a huge risk of having him go elsewhere if he does have a great 2023. Franchise tag only works once, then you really pay if it's applied twice or 3 times.

$22 Million is peanuts for a potential MVP Quarterback, it's worth the risk. Besides, what other options are there? We have no draft capital and that means no trade capital either. Stud QBs don't become free agents, so for now, it's Tua or bust.

If we've got to make these decisions right now, that all makes sense.

Tua's contract will be relatively cheap if he continues to make the progress he did this season prior to the concussions.

Jackson has been a major bust, arguable just as big if not bigger than Noah. As much as we need depth on our O-Line, that's a big contract to carry for two years for a guy who has not really been up to scratch or shown any improvement from day one. As we're adding more bodies to the list he's falling further down the depth chart, and I'm fine with him given just the 12 months to earn another contract or move on.

Noah "the Enigma" Igbinoghene is perhaps a more challenging one - he actually showed in a couple of games this year the talent was there to be a possible future starting corner, but like you said, he just could not get on the field enough this season through injury (or mysteriously by reasons not specified by the team). The cap hit is not ridiculous if by some miracle he does blossom into a starting lockdown corner, and with the likely prospect of Byron Jones dropping off the roster there's just maybe the potential room to carry him... That said, in his rookie season Kader Kohou has jumped him in the pecking order. Nik Needham may be back, although his torn Achilles tendon injury was genuinely nasty and he is a free agent. All up, the lack of development and game time of his first three years is a lot of baggage going into this decision - I just wish we drafted Diggs (or Surtain II the following year) instead, and we would not be having this conversation about Noah.

So it's a yes, a no, and a likely no.

I think with Tua you have to decide whether you want to pick up the 5th year option or sign him to a long term deal. Given the concussions (and I get that doctors are saying he has no higher risk of concussions next year than anyone else), I'm thinking picking up the option is the safer bet. If he performs well the coming season (year 4), work out a long term deal.

Austin Jackson played less than a 100 snaps on offense this season (compared to over a 1000 last season). His performance in those few snaps was mediocre, although better than last year going by PFF's ratings. You cannot pay someone double-digit millions for that kind of production, even if injuries contributed. However, the dude is 23 years old and improving, so he's definitely worth keeping around for year 4 and if the coaches have liked his progression in practice, it might be worth exploring a long-term deal. It's worth noting that he graded A LOT better than Greg Little at tackle, but not as high as Brandon Shell (who turns 31 in a few weeks).

Only the top 7 right tackles are making 10+ million a year and once we are out of the top 15, the average per year is under $5 million. His rookie contract averaged $3.4 million and, realistically, that's the ballpark unless the coaches have been insanely impressed with him and are confident it will show on the field.

With regards to Noah Igbinoghene, we can save 3 million on the 2023 cap by cutting him outright (half a mil in dead money for '23, none for '24), For a guy who contributed so little (20% of total defensive snaps, 10% of special teams snaps), I think that's the obvious direction and I would be surprised if he were still on the roster next season. The only reason to keep him around for year 4 is a desperate hope that he will transform into a starting caliber player. That seems like a fairly expensive lottery ticket, though.

From the games I saw Little was a LOT better when he was at RT next to Hunt playing right guard. When he got shifted to LT to replace an injured Armstead with Eichenberg inside, he got absolutely slaughtered.

I really don't think Jackson has been any better than Little, he hasn't improved since he was drafted (despite what the PFF rankings say, which to be honest I always view with healthy skepticism), and as you say yourself he's not worth anywhere near double-digit millions for what he's done at that position. We got more out of Jones and Shell at the OL at the end of this year for comparatively peanuts, and that speaks volumes.

Signing Tua to a long term deal isn't even an option IMO. That would be one of the dumbest signings ever in the history of the NFL. It really comes down to picking up the 5th year or waiting until afterwards to sign him if he stays healthy.

The dumbest deal is coming .. someone is gonna give lamar jackson 5/250 and it's going to stink badly within 2 years

And he really, really, wants a fully guranteed contract.

Watson set the standard so now everyone wants it, but they won't get it if the teams hold firm. 2 injured seasons in a row for Lamar make him a prime candidate for a franchise tag or a contract where the team isn't doomed if his knee never heals fully. He bet on himself this year and lost, interesting to see what happens now.

No to all three.  Tua's only played 2 years worth of games in three seasons and I don't see it getting any better.