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NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo<\/a> reported Friday the Dolphins informed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa they’re picking up the fifth-year option attached to his rookie contract that guarantees him roughly $23.2 million for the 2024 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Miami head coach Mike McDaniel raised eyebrows throughout the NFL community when he said<\/a> during the combine that the club hadn’t yet decided what it would do about Tagovailoa’s option, and general manager Chris Grier acknowledged<\/a> he has some concerns about the 25-year-old’s durability.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tagovailoa enjoyed a career season in his first year playing under McDaniel but generated headlines due to the physical setbacks he endured during the campaign. Most notably, he suffered a minimum of two concussions and missed the club’s final two regular-season games and the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills because he was in the concussion protocol<\/a> for over a month.\u00a0<\/p>\n Multiple insiders linked<\/a> Lamar Jackson with the Dolphins both before and after the Ravens used the non-exclusive franchise tag<\/a> to retain his rights for 2023. Miami reportedly<\/a> recently created over $40 million in salary cap space, and some assumed the organization was preparing to give the one-time NFL Most Valuable Player the type of fully guaranteed contract he has allegedly desired since last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, NFL Network’s Rich Eisen made news Monday when he said<\/a> that he heard during the combine to “keep an eye out” for the Dolphins possibly contacting Tom Brady about ending his latest retirement if they “somehow or some way get a doctor\u2019s report or piece of information from a medical evaluation of Tua that he may not be ready to go.”\u00a0<\/p>\n It’s widely believed<\/a> Brady wanted to join the Dolphins last winter, and his ex-wife, Gisele B\u00fcndchen, owns a home in Miami.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, New England Patriots broadcaster Scott Zolak said<\/a> he thought “the possibility of (Brady) coming out of retirement (to play in Miami) is definitely 100% in play.”<\/p>\n Nothing about Friday’s developments will ease the worries<\/a> many have about Tagovailoa possibly experiencing future head injuries. It seems, for better or for worse, that the Dolphins have reasons to think the 2020 first-round draft pick will be just fine for Week 1 of the 2023 season and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n