Dolphins star shares huge Tua Tagovailoa prediction after extension

It took a little longer than some expected, but the Miami Dolphins ultimately locked quarterback Tua Tagovailoa down via a four-year, $212.4M contract extension this summer.

Teammate and star wide receiver Tyreek Hill believes Tagovailoa could be in for a career season now that the 26-year-old is truly being paid like a franchise player at the sport's most important position.

"I can say this year," Hill explained during an appearance on the "Up & Adams Show," as shared by Mike McDaniel of Sports Illustrated. "I'm gonna call my shot. This year, [Tagovailoa] can be an MVP candidate once again and even win the thing, man, because he's just that nice."

Statistically speaking, Tagovailoa has already shown he can produce MVP-caliber numbers across an entire campaign when he stays healthy. According to Pro Football Reference, he finished the 2023 regular season ranked first in the NFL with 4,624 passing yards, 10th with a 60.8 adjusted QBR, tied for fifth with 29 passing touchdowns and fourth with a 50.8 percent passing success rate.

With all that said, ESPN NFL analyst Bill Barnwell mentioned this past January that the Dolphins "went 1-6 and averaged 15.1 points per game on offense against teams with a winning record" last season. That type of production against the league's top clubs would keep any signal-caller from receiving MVP votes.

Hill thinks the best is to come from the Tagovailoa-led offense.

"It's gonna be scary this year, man," Hill added during the show segment. "I can see a lot of improvements in [Tagovailoa]'s game. He's done a tremendous job on really honing in on his craft each and every offseason. Then obviously, calling us like me and [fellow receiver Jaylen Waddle] and some of the other guys to come work out with him. So it's been a beautiful thing, man, like each and every year to be a part of his whole development from year one I've been with him to year three."

As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Tagovailoa 13th among the betting favorites at +2500 odds to claim the MVP Award for the upcoming season. Perhaps more importantly as it pertains to where Hill and Tagovailoa want to go, DraftKings had Miami tied for sixth among the betting favorites at +1100 odds to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LIX.

While Tagovailoa would likely enjoy being part of MVP conversations through January, he may be more focused at this time on attempting to earn the first playoff win of his NFL career.