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The retirement calls are increasingly surrounding injured Dolphins star Tua Tagovailoa, but much like the rest of the lengthy injury history for the quarterback, the situation is complicated, and growing more so.
Tagovailoa suffered yet another concussion in the Thursday Night Football season opener against the Bills, following a string of head injuries in the 2022 season that drew national attention and led to changes in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
That prompted a series of players and coaches, including the Raiders’ Antonio Pierce, to call on Tagovailoa to retire for the sake of his own health and his family.
“It’s not worth it,” Pierce said Friday. “Playing the game, I haven’t witnessed anything like what’s happened to him three times … I just think at some point—he’s going to live longer than he’s going to play football—take care of your family.”
As of Sunday, Tagovailoa is deferring any decision until at least after meeting early this week with neurologists, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Counting his final collegiate season at Alabama, Tagovailoa has now suffered four diagnosed concussions in the last five years, and it’s possible there were additional undiagnosed ones. The meetings with doctors will be to assess both the severity of the latest blow, suffered during the third quarter of the Dolphins’ 31-10 loss to the Bills, and the cumulative effect of all the concussions.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, meanwhile, reported that Tagovailoa will not retire, and added that the meetings with doctors have already started. Tagovailoa is expected to miss at least the Dolphins’ next game, Sept. 22 at the Seahawks, while the evaluations continue, and he remains in the league’s concussion protocol.
Complex Math
Beyond Tagovailoa’s health, there are significant contractual ramifications within any retirement decision. Just starting a four-year $212.4 million contract extension signed in July, Tagovailoa has $167.1 million of those funds guaranteed, and about $43 million has already been paid. If Tagovailoa is cleared to return to play, but chooses to retire, he forfeits the rest of his money, absent a separate, negotiated settlement. If he is forced to medically retire, he could claim the remaining $124 million in guaranteed money.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, for his part, implored the media and fans to focus on Tagovailoa’s health, and only that.
“You’re talking about his career. His career is his,” McDaniel said Friday. “I just wish that people would for a second hear what I’m saying, that bringing up his future is not in the best interest of him. So I’m going to plead with everybody that genuinely does care that should be the last thing on your mind.”
