Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa reportedly makes physical change amid contract talks

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa added weight and trained in jiu-jitsu last offseason in an attempt to stay healthy.

Tagovailoa has once again changed things up this spring as he looks to sign a long-term contract extension with the Dolphins. 

"He's down to 220 pounds, from what I understand," Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network said about Tagovailoa during a Tuesday morning on-air segment, per Sam DiGiovanni of ClutchPoints. "He dropped 10 to 15 pounds this offseason already from the 230s, where he was last year. He wants to be agile, a little bit more escapability from the bulked-up version that was in the 230s year." 

Tagovailoa suffered a minimum of two reported concussions during the 2022 season but started every game for Miami last season. The 26-year-old is set to play this coming season on the fifth-year-option worth $23.171M attached to his rookie contract. He had been absent "for the large majority of voluntary offseason work" over the past month or so, but he was spotted at the team's facility for the start of organized team activities on Monday. 

In April, Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post suggested that Tagovailoa slimming down heading into this September is a risky move considering the signal-caller's lengthy injury history. As Peter Dewey of Dolphin Nation shared, Wolfe said on Tuesday that individuals within the organization aren't concerned about Tagovailoa dropping weight this spring. 

"They saw him play 17 games last year," Wolfe explained. "Last year, the priority was bulking up. They did want him to get as heavy as possible to withstand it. Now, they’ve seen him withstand it. We all talked about the jiu-jitsu last year. They saw a lot of his action from the martial arts, turn and avoid some of those falls that led to the concussions previously. And so now, the hope is that maybe he can extend a little bit more with a little bit of a slimmer weight."

According to Pro-Football-Reference, Tagovailoa led the NFL in 2023 with 4,624 passing yards and was ranked 10th with a 60.8 adjusted QBR. Such production should get him paid sooner rather than later, but some remain worried about his durability regardless of his playing weight.