There’s been a lot of talk about Tua Tagovailoa retiring after we watched him suffer yet another scary concussion on Thursday Night Football against the Buffalo Bills.
Considering his history with concussions and what we know about the lasting damage they can do to the human brain, it’s natural the people are talking about retirement. You’ve got everyone from fans to NFL players weighing in on the Dolphin QB’s future. Retirement is probably the right decision here.
But it’s also a pretty complicated one — especially when you factor in the workings of Tagovailoa’s latest contract with the Dolphins.
He signed a four-year, $216 million extension with the Dolphins this summer, including $167 million in guarantees. Tagovailoa has already reportedly received $43 million of that already.
The other $124 million gets a bit sticky, according to Sportrac’s Michael Ginnitti.
For Tagovailoa to retire and see the full guaranteed value of his contract, he’d need to be medically forced into retirement. He’d have to continuously fail concussion protocols and be unable to return to the field.
If Tagovailoa is cleared but still decides to retire after his injuries, he’d forfeit the remaining $124 million on his contract unless the Dolphins agreed to settle with him on a payout.
With that in mind, Tua’s path to retirement becomes all that more difficult of a decision. Obviously, his health is the priority here as it should be. But, if he’s medically cleared, walking away from $124 million is a tough decision.
As many have said, that’s not a decision for us to make — he has to make it on his own. Whatever decision he makes, though, we should hope it leads to the healthiest future possible for him.
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