Dan Marino names the one thing that the Dolphins need to do to be successful

The Miami Dolphins have already started to focus on the new NFL season as they look to move on from a challenging 2024 campaign. The Dolphins failed to make the playoffs despite having the fifth-highest salary bill in the league.

A significant proportion of that is made up of the contract that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa signed last July. Ahead of the 2024 season Tagovailoa put pen to paper on a four-year contract extension worth $212 million, including $167.2 million in guaranteed money.

But for all his talent, Tagovailoa did not represent good value for money for the Dolphins in 2024. He missed a career-high six games due to injury: four due to concussion and another two due to a hip injury late in the season. Speaking on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ legendary Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino insisted that Tagovailoa’s fitness is the main factor for Miami going forward.

“I thought we had a very good football team until we started getting injuries, especially at the end of the year,” said Marino, who is now special adviser to team owner Stephen Ross. “Tua is our quarterback, he’s going to be our quarterback, but we need to find a way to just keep him healthy, especially at the end of the year when you have to win games to get in the playoffs... That’s I think where the focus is going to be.”

Dolphins GM issues challenge to Tagovailoa

Marino is not the only one who wants to see more from Tagovailoa in 2025. Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said recently that Tagovailoa needs to do more to ensure that he can be on the field for the team.

The hip injury is not thought to be a serious one but he has suffered a number of concussions in the past few years, usually after taking heavy sacks in the pocket. According to Grier, this is an element of the game that the QB need to work on.

“He needs to be available. He needs to know how to protect himself,” Grier said last month. “You’re going to get hit at times, it’s always going to happen, but he needs to control what he can control. He understands that. Not being available for taking chances and risk is unacceptable to us, and he knows that.”

When available, Tagovailoa is a real talent. Across the 11 games that he did play, Tagovailoa recorded the highest pass completion rate in the entire league (72.9%). He also led the league in passing yards in 2023, playing in all 18 games for the Dolphins in his best season to date.

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