His $99 million will be spread across the next two seasons. Dead cap money is a charge to the team's salary cap space for a player who is no longer on the team, typically due to unpaid bonuses or guaranteed money remaining on that player's contract.
Tagovailoa, 28, has been with the Dolphins his entire six-year career. He's coming off a 2025 season in which he threw for 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions - a career-high - across 14 games.
Tagovailoa's career has been plagued by concussions to the point that fans and media were wondering if he would actually retire. He's only played in one full season throughout his career, and that came in 2023 when he led the league in passing yards (4,624).
Recent reports are saying that the Atlanta Falcons will be heavily pursuing Tagovailoa.