The Dolphins and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle have agreed to a 3-year contract extension that should keep him waddling with the club in 2023, '24, '25, '26 and '27.

It seems to be an equitable and reasonable deal for club and player.

Should we be surprised Waddle's extension got done before his college and pro teammate, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa?

Not really.

Tua's contract will be much bigger and is surely more complicated.

For Tua and Miami it's not just total value but length and guarantees to work through.

The complications? Well, Tua's college and pro injury history, including concussions.

By the time Waddle's new contract kicks in, in 2026, it will likely look even better for the club.

The salary cap will only increase and other receivers will easily surpass him.

Waddle is extremely fast and not very big and sometimes gets dinged up on Sunday.

Jaylen Waddle contract: fair for club and player

But he is an ideal fit for Mike McDaniel's offense and it was especially important to have Waddle under contract for years in which Tyreek Hill may be gone.

Tua's deal figures to come in around Jared Goff's deal.

The Lions gave Goff 4 years, $212 million with $170.6 million guaranteed.

That's $53 million a year, second only to Joe Burrow's $55 million.

But a key here is Goff's deal is for only four years.

How much will Tua Tagovailoa's contract pay?

What Tua makes - total money and guarantee - hinges on if the Dolphins' extension is for four or five years.

Tua may prefer five. The Dolphins may prefer four.

Miami will clearly try to keep Tua's salary cap hit as low as possible for as many seasons as possible.

But none of this is unprecedented. There should be respectful back-and-forths as both sides have motivations to get this done.

One side will likely budge just a bit on money and that will get it done before the season opener.

Lamar Jackson's current contract is 5 years at $52 million per season.

Jalen Hurts' current contract is 5 years at $51 million per season.

The templates are there. There's no reason this shouldn't get done.

A new deal for safety Jevon Holland (last year under contract is 2024) may have to wait.

The Dolphins could always tag Holland in 2025 if necessary.

They won't have to tag Jaelan Phillips because he's a first-round pick and thus has already had a fifth-year option exercised for 2025.

When Miami allowed Christian Wilkins and Robert Hunt to walk in free agency, it was with full intent to get deals with Waddle and Tua done ASAP.

How much salary cap space do Miami Dolphins have?

According to Spotrac, Miami had only about $1.4 million in cap space as of Thursday morning.

That's only 29th in the NFL, but...

But the Dolphins will have about $18 million added to their 2024 salary cap once Xavien Howard's contract comes off the books on Saturday.

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That new pocket money is not really a factor for Waddle and Tua.

That money should allow general manager Chris Grier to add a veteran guard, defensive tackle, safety and/or cornerback before the season kicks off.

There seems little reason to doubt Tua will have his new deal by then.

And there's little reason to doubt Tua isn't very happy for his good friend Waddle.

Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins cap space allows for Jaylen Waddle, Tua Tagovailoa deals