Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
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(Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
The Miami Dolphins decided to bite the financial bullet this offseason when they decided to cut ties with Tua Tagovailoa.Despite both parties moving on, Tagovailoa did throw a subtle dig at the Dolphins while speaking with the media in Atlanta.
“I don’t want to get too much in depth with things that were going on,”Tagovailoa said. “[This issue was] more so in terms of players-to-coaches than it was players-to-players. It was unique in a sense… in a lot of ways.”
The former Dolphins teasing his shade but not going into full detail about what went wrong led Channing Crowder to call out Tagovailoa.
“He didn’t like it here,”Crowder said in a March 26 video from 104.3 WQAM. “Obviously, they benched him. He and [Mike] McDaniel fell out. Then say, ‘Me and McDaniel, we, we didn’t see on the same page late in the season. We weren’t having success on offense.’ Get into details or just say, ‘I’m happy to be a Falcon.’
“Why is he throwing these little birds, these little breadcrumbs out and then running away from it laughing? Like, it’s just goofy. It’s goofy on both sides. Don’t squirrel. Either go, ‘I’m mad, I’m going to tell you why I’m mad,’ or say, ‘That’s in the past.’ That’s what I don’t like about Tua. Here you go, here goes a little something, but I’m not going to get into it.”
Former Dolphins QB Ticks Off Another Miami Radio Host
Moreover, Crowder isn’t the only person having issues with Tagovailoa’s remarks about how the final season in Miami ended, as radio broadcaster Joe Rose ripped the quarterback on his show too.
“We paid that bum $200 million for one year of good play,“ Rose said (h/tDolphins Wire). “$200 is gonna be the number when this year is over.We’re going to be lookingat, in guaranteed money from his rookie signing bonus and the amountof money he just gotthat was guaranteed on that $200+ million contract.
“And, he’s coming out with some kind of weak ‘It wasn’t players and players.‘ Because he doesn’t want any of the players taking shots at him,because, they will, so he says the coach thing?
Tua Tagovailoa Looks for Fresh Start With Dolphins
Miami’s decision to part ways with its former starting QB will cost the Dolphins an NFL-record $99.2 million in dead money against the salary cap,per ESPN.
Nonetheless, Tagovailoa’s release will be designated post-June 1, allowing the Dolphins to split the dead money over two years. After his tenure with Miami ended, the former first-round pick signed with the Atlanta Falcons to replace the outgoing Kirk Cousins and will now compete for the starting job there against Michael Penix Jr.
“You’re either a competitor or you’re not, you just don’t go from being a competitor to ‘let me just relax a little bit,‘”Tagovailoa said. “I embrace the competition. I’m excited to work alongside Mike, and I’m excited to work with the team, with the guys. I think it’s going to be fun this year.”