Smart move. Phins up!

Patting myself on the back for calling out the joke tweet about Herbert

The Giants’ experience with Daniel Jones shows the risk of not picking up the fifth-year option for a quarterback who flashes potential.

After the Giants bypassed exercising Jones’ fifth-year option by last May’s deadline, Jones had a good season and was given a four-year, $160 million contract this week.

That Giants’ deal for Jones could be worth $195 million with incentives, with $94 million guaranteed but a reasonable first-year cap number ($19 million).

If Tagovailoa is very good and stays healthy next season, the Dolphins could replace the option with a long-term deal with a 2024 cap hit lower than the $23.2 million fifth-year option.

And keep this in mind: Even if Tagovailoa misses games next season but is generally productive when he plays, there’s a good chance he would remain the best realistic quarterback option for 2024. That was one incentive to exercise the option.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said the organization is not pursuing any other quarterback, including Lamar Jackson, and wants Tua Tagovailoa as starter in 2023.

"Absolutely," McDaniel said in a conversation with The Palm Beach Post and Sun Sentinel at the NFL owners' meetings on Monday. "That's why you pick up a fifth-year option. That's why you, that's how you do it. That's why you pick the option up as soon as you know you're going to. So to, to kind of as opposed to speaking, having an action speak, to really squash any of that an unnecessary direction or chatter."