Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa should play without a new contract in 2024, says Eagles icon LeSean McCoy

Tua Tagovailoa has firmly established himself as the face of the Miami Dolphins in the 2020s. He has had nothing but winning records in his four seasons with them so far, the last two resulting in playoff appearances alongside top wideout Tyreek Hill.

But now he is in his fifth-option, and the Dolphins still have not offered him the monstrous extension that his peers like Joe Burrow have, despite a recent claim of "active" and "amicable" negotiations by ESPN's Jeff Darlington. That situation annoys many fans, but not former running back LeSean McCoy.

On Tuesday, the six-time Pro Bowler with the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills opined on FS1's "Speak" if Tugavailoa should play the next season without agreeing on a new deal. He said:

"I'm the GM and I'm talking to his agency and all that right, and we're talking like, 'Before we got the right system for you, who were you?' Before he got the head coach, before we got all these different pieces... ? Trevor Lawrence without the contract.

He further opined:

"At some point, we got to start controlling this money for the quarterbacks because it started with this thing where now quarterbacks are getting paid just because of the position they're playing."

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Danny Parkins says Dolphins must extend Tua Tagovailoa

On the other side of the Tua Tagovailoa extension spectrum is 670 The Score's The Spiegel and Parkins show host Danny Parkins who believes that it must happen. On Tuesday, while filling in for Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports 1's The Herd, he said it would be very difficult to ditch the current leader in passing yards after 2024. It would also then be unrealistic to expect his replacement to perform at the same high level (0:47 to begin the quote):

"When it comes to quarterbacks in the NFL, you either have a guy that you believe you can win with. You want it to be a guy that you can win because of, and that's a smaller list. You don't really have an alternative. There are more teams than franchise quarterbacks in the NFL."

He continued:

"Would I love it if my team gave Tua $250 million plus? No. But the alternative to paying Tua is (backup) Skylar Thompson. You either have a guy who is good enough to pay and you pay him, or you don't and three or four teams will line up to."

The Dolphins' preseason practice begins on July 23, but fans will not be given access until five days later.