Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa Admits Retirement Has Crossed His Mind

Tua Tagovailoa suffered multiple injury scares last season, so fans wouldn’t blame the 25-year-old if he walked away from football.

The Dolphins signal-caller suffered two known concussions in his third season in the NFL. The first caused an outcry against the league for its player-safety protocols, and multiple questions were thrown at Miami on its handling of Tagovailoa’s health.

It was on the mind of the quarterback throughout the offseason, and it nearly made him walk away from the game.

“Yeah, I considered it for a time, having sat down with my family, with my wife, having those kinds of conversations,” Tagovailoa told reporters Wednesday when asked if he ever considered retirement, per Palm Beach Post’s Hal Habib.

The QB added, per ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques: “It would be hard for me to walk away from this game with how old I am, with my son — I always dreamed of playing as long as a could to the point where my son knew what he’s watching.”

Tagovailoa hasn’t been the only Dolphins player to speak on retirement as wide receiver Tyreek Hill gave his timeline on his NFL career.

Miami was 8-5 when Tagovailoa started last season and lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs with Skylar Thompson under center. The team has Super Bowl aspirations, which is why it traded for Jalen Ramsey, but the concern over Tagovailoa’s health will be a pressing one throughout the 2023 season, especially with two years left on his rookie deal.