Chargers reminded how lucky they are after Tua Tagovailoa's Dolphins extension

The LA Chargers made it their No. 1 mission to sign Justin Herbert to a contract extension as soon as possible last year. Former GM Tom Telesco struck a deal with Herbert prior to last year's training camp, signing him to a five-year, $262.5 million contract.

The Miami Dolphins did not have the same urgency with Tua Tagovailoa. Miami made Tua go out there and prove himself during the 2023 season and utilized his fifth-year rookie option in 2024 as a safeguard in case a deal was not reached.

Nothing happened during the offseason but finally, with the Dolphins reconvening for training camp, a deal was made. The Dolphins officially signed Tua to a four-year, $212.4 million extension that locks him up through the 2028 season — one year sooner than Herbert's deal ends.

While Tagovailoa is getting less overall money and is on a shorter deal, there is one aspect where he beats Herbert: annual average salary. The Dolphins' signal-caller is making $53.1 million per season compared to Herbert's $52.5.

Dolphins give Tua Tagovailoa more per season than Chargers pay Justin Herbert

In the grand scheme of things, this really does not make much of a difference. The difference in money is marginal and it is still clear the Chargers trust in Herbert more than the Dolphins trust in Tua. If the Dolphins had the same level of trust they would have signed him to a five-year deal.

If anything, this should be hilarious for Chargers fans who have had to sit through the nonsensical Tua vs. Herbert debates for several years. With one contract, the Dolphins proved they don't quite view Tua on the same level as the elite quarterbacks in the league but still gave him an absurd amount of money.

This was a classic case where the Dolphins paid Tua because they don't have any other routes to take. There are not any exciting quarterbacks hitting free agency and the NFL Draft is a complete crap shoot. Thus, the Dolphins had to lay in the bed they made, giving Tua elite money when he certainly is not an elite quarterback.

Hey, if anything, this also makes it even more obvious how lucky the Chargers are to have Justin Herbert.

As long as you are a half-decent quarterback in today's market you are going to get top-tier money. Tua, Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence all got higher annual salaries than Herbert even though they are definitely below him in the league hierarchy.

Instead of having to pay an above-average quarterback top-tier money, the Chargers get to pay an elite quarterback top-tier money. Even though Miami has had more success recently, that definitely puts the Chargers in a much better situation in the long run.

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