Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins star Jalen Ramsey has arguably been the best cornerback of the past decade, but some around the league have reportedly been questioning his commitment level.

In the annual top-10 poll conducted by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Ramsey was voted as the No. 5 cornerback in the NFL, down from his No. 3 spot entering the 2023 season. One personnel director succinctly described the 29-year-old as "outstanding when he wants to be."

Ramsey has been selected to each of the last seven Pro Bowls. He was limited to 10 games in 2023 due to a torn meniscus, but he still recorded three interceptions and held quarterbacks to a 66.2 passer rating, 269 yards and two touchdowns when targeting him.

However, Fowler noted that Ramsey's "rep the past few years is that he's not always motivated to dominate."

A veteran offensive coach assessed Ramsey by saying, "He might be declining a little at this stage, but he can still impose his will on a game."

The Dolphins will need Ramsey to be at his best if they hope to contend for a spot in the Super Bowl this season.

The Miami Dolphins might not be ready to lavish Tua Tagovailoa with $50 million annually, but some executives around the league view him as a "nightmare" in the right situation.

"I feel like everybody knows what he is: A good player with some limitations," a NFL personnel evaluator told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. "He's a matchup nightmare some weeks. He's really good when he's in rhythm and gets the ball out in time. He can be hard to beat when he's throwing with touch and anticipation."

Tagovailoa led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards while throwing for 29 touchdowns against 14 interceptions in 2023. He set a career-high with a 69.3 completion percentage and had five different games of 300 or more passing yards.

The only problem: All five of those 300-yard games came in Miami's first 10 contests. Tagovailoa was held under the 300-yard mark in the Dolphins' last seven regular-season games and their playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs defense thwarted the Miami passing attack, with Tagovailoa throwing for just 199 yards and one touchdown against an interception on 39 pass attempts.

The Dolphins closed the season with three straight losses, with Tagovailoa throwing five picks in those games. Miami went 1-6 against playoff teams during the 2023 season.

While Tagovailoa's record against elite teams is cause for concern, it's tough to see how Miami could do any better at the quarterback position. It's the responsibility of the front office to surround him with the type of team that can last deep into the playoffs on both sides of the ball.

It looks like the Miami Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa are having productive conversations about a future contract.

Jeff Darlington of ESPN reported on SportsCenter that even though Miami and Tagovailoa have not yet come to terms on a new deal, the two sides have remained in consistent contact since talks from June.

"While I can't say that there is anything imminent in terms of a deal as we inch closer to training camp, I can at least tell you that there have been active negotiations since then," Darlington said. "They continue to try to get this done with a very amicable approach. It does not appear that this is going sideways by any means."

The reports from June stated that Tagovailoa's deal was not in the Jared Goff or Trevor Lawrence range. Goff received a four-year, $212 million extension in May while Lawrence signed a five-year, $275 million extension in June.

Tagovailoa's regular season production makes him appear worthy for a deal that large. He has a 32-19 overall record and has 12,639 passing yards and 81 touchdowns in his four seasons. He threw for 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns with 14 interceptions in 2023 and led Miami to an 11-6 record.

Despite the regular season success, the Dolphins have been unable to get it done in the postseason and Tagovailoa has only completed a full season one time.

While both sides would prefer to get a deal done prior to the season, it could be a prove-it year for the 26-year-old in 2024.

Tyreek Hill is happy with the direction the wide receiver market is headed.

Following an offseason training session, the eight-time Pro Bowler reflected on the rising salaries going towards high-end wide receivers and his role in the trend.

"I'm very excited to like just be a part of the old wave, which was $30 million, and Justin Jefferson came and surpassed that, man," Hill said, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC Houston. "So, very proud of those guys, happy for obviously my teammate Waddle getting his new deal. For guys like me, that's great. I'm 30 years old, also looking for a new deal. So, very, very excited to see where I fit into that category. It's amazing."

Hill notably signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the Miami Dophins in 2022. This gave him an average annual value that exceeds $30 million per season and was a development that helped start the explosion of the market.

Since then, Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown and others have signed mega deals that exceed Hill's salary, and when he hits the open market again in 2027. The market will surely continue to increase, but Hill's age obviously will too which could limit his long-term prospects.

However, Hill has shown no signs of slowing down. He had 119 catches for 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2023-24. He was named first-team All-Pro, finished sixth in MVP voting and was the runner-up for the Offensive Player of the Year award.

While contract talks may not be at the forefront of his mind heading into 2024, continuing to excel for Miami is something he will hope to continue.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is believed to be next in line to receive a major contract extension, but it sounds like he won't be paid as much as some of the other signal-callers who received new deals this offseason like Detroit Lions veteran Jared Goff and Jacksonville Jaguars starter Trevor Lawrence.

Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald followed up a report by ESPN's Jeff Darlington on Tuesday's episode of NFL Live by stating that the Dolphins "are dug into their position that they will not pay" Tagovailoa "a Goff-esque contract rate." The Lions signed Goff to a four-year, $212 million extension with an average annual value of $53 million.

Darlington explained in his report that Tagovailoa made it clear that "the market is the market," but he said that after Goff's deal and before Lawrence was signed to a whopping five-year, $275 million extension that tied him with Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow for the highest annual salary in the league at $55 million. While Miami had some flexibility in negotiations in the wake of Goff's deal, Lawrence's deal created a new benchmark that Tagovailoa will be eyeing.

Darlington noted, "Right now, the Dolphins are not offering the contract that is the market value based on those other deals that were done." He added that neither side has reached a panic point as of yet, but there's a clear divide in negotiations because Miami's offer is "not in the Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence ballpark."

Tagovailoa is coming off a stellar 2023 season in which he was an MVP candidate for much of the year and led the league with 4,624 passing yards while adding a career-high 29 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. He completed a career-best 69.3 percent of his passes. He is set to make $23.2 million in the final year of his rookie contract.

It would be a massive surprise if the Dolphins don't try to lock up Tagovailoa with a long-term deal, as he's one of the most talented young quarterbacks in the league. However, it appears that the team is not trying to break the bank with a contract extension that would force it to limit spending in other areas.

Miami Dolphins rookie wide receiver Malik Washington made sure his draft moment will live on forever by getting a tattoo on his leg of the moment.

Washington, who played college football at Northwestern and Virginia, was a sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft. His slide to Day 3 was considered good fortune for the Dolphins, who continue to load up on elite athletes at skill positions.

Washington ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds and put together an impressive 42.5-inch vertical leap at the NFL Scouting Combine. His height (5'9") played a major factor in him falling to the sixth round, as there is little question regarding Washington's production.

Washington racked up 110 receptions for 1,426 yards and nine touchdowns during his lone season at Virginia, earning All-ACC honors.

The Dolphins have a dynamic offense that finds creative ways to get the ball into their playmakers' hands, so Washington could get opportunities early if he impresses in camp. Washington will be competing with veterans Odell Beckham Jr., Braxton Berrios and River Cracraft for snaps behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

One NFL general manager told NFL Network's Tom Pelissero that he would let Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa play out the remainder of his rookie contract, which is set to expire after the team's fifth-year option runs out following the 2024 season.

Pelissero made his marks on the Rich Eisen Show (Eisen's question preceding Pelissero's answer begins at 1:30 mark):

"I talked to a GM for a different team this morning...what he said was, 'I would let Tua play it out,'" Pelissero said when asked about teams resetting the quarterback market. "...The GM who called me this morning was saying like, 'You can't do a deal at that number, it's gone too far.'"

The conversation comes after Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence landed a five-year, $275 million contract extension ($55 million per average).

Lawrence arrived in the NFL with tremendous hype as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, but he's statistically a middle-of-the-road signal-caller right now. Last season, Lawrence finished 21st in passer rating and 18th in QBR, per Pro Football Reference.

Tagovailoa's fared far better (fifth in passer rating and 10th in QBR last year), so with the market for franchise quarterbacks around $55 million right now, it's fair for Tagovailoa's camp to demand more.

"Now you have to look at this if you're Tua's agent and say [$55 million's] the floor and we want to beat that, because Trevor Lawrence statistically has not done what Tua's done over the past couple years," Pelissero noted, while adding that $55 million is the baseline for quarterback deals to get done now.

That's a ton of money for a non-superstar quarterback, hence the GM's hypothetical hesitation to re-sign Tagovailoa if he had the choice.

There are reservations to signing Tagovailoa. For starters, he's unfortunately dealt with numerous serious injuries over his career, including a dislocated hip and fractured posterior wall in 2019 (while at Alabama), several fracture ribs in 2021 and two diagnosed concussions in 2022.

But the other fact of the matter is that Tagovailoa appears to be a good quarterback but not a great one (although there's still time for him to reach greater heights, of course).

And the AFC is led by great quarterbacks who are going to keep their teams in Super Bowl contention, such as Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. As good as Tagovailoa is, he unfortunately may not be good enough to measure up to those players.

Of note, Trevor Sikkema of PFF ranked him 14th overall in an NFL quarterback list, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports has him 12th and Derrik Klassen for 33rd Team has him 19th.

On the flip side, Tagovailoa just enjoyed his first complete season in 2023, starting all 17 games. That resulted in him throwing for a career-high 4,624 yards, alongside 29 touchdowns and a 69.3 percent completion rate. Miami enjoyed its best regular season since 2008, going 11-6.

Right now, Tagovailoa is going into the final year of his contract. If he agrees to an extension with the Dolphins, one has to assume it could be north of $55 million per year at this juncture. That's a huge chunk of change for Miami, but the team can at least take solace in the fact that Tagovailoa has been very productive when healthy and should, at bare minimum, keep the Dolphins in playoff contention under his watch.