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Miami Dolphins sign Ryan Tannehill to $96 million contract extension

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The Dolphins became the first team to dole out the big dollars to a quarterback taken in the 2012 NFL draft.

Ryan Tannehill beat his peers — Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III and Nick Foles — to a long-term extension, signing a six-year, $96 million contract that could keep him in Miami until after the 2020 season.

The Dolphins had been discussing a multi-year extension with Tannehill and his camp since January. They opted into the fifth-year option of his rookie deal last month, which guaranteed the former Texas A&M standout $16.15 million for 2016.

But the negotiations continued, and the extension got done by Monday afternoon. According to a source, the Dolphins guaranteed $45 million of Tannehill’s new deal, with the final portion of the guaranteed money being his $16.5 million for the 2018 season.

That means the Dolphins have made at least a four-year commitment to Tannehill — who produced a career-high 92.8 passer rating last season — unless they trade him.

“We are thrilled that we were able to sign Ryan to an extension,” Mike Tannenbaum, the Dolphins’ vice president of football operations said in a statement. “He is an ascending talent, a team leader and checks all of the boxes you are looking for at the position.”

Before the extension, the Dolphins were already committed to paying Tannehill $18.27 million over the next two seasons in base salary and bonuses, and placing the franchise tag on him would have run another $19 million.

The new deal puts Tannehill in the neighborhood of the contract extensions the 49ers gave Colin Kaepernick, the Chiefs gave Alex Smith, and the one Andy Dalton received from the Bengals last year.

Based on what’s known about Tannehill’s deal, he’s tied with Dalton for 15th in the NFL when it comes to average salary per season ($16 million). He’s also tied with Dalton for ninth in terms of the contract’s total value.

However, in terms of guaranteed money, Tannehill is tied for sixth with Smith, who signed a four-year, $68 million extension last year.

Tannehill, who was the eighth overall pick in the 2012 draft, has started all 48 games in his three-year career and has completed 1,029-of-1,662 passes (61.9 percent) for 11,252 yards. He’s thrown 63 touchdowns and 42 interceptions and has a career passer rating of 84.0.

He’s also rushed 145 times for 760 yards and four touchdowns.

But Tannehill hasn’t helped the Dolphins produced a winning season in his three years, and he has a 23-25 overall record.

Still, the Dolphins have made it clear they believe Tannehill is the future of the franchise. And their proof is the fact his performance has improved every season.

Of the NFL’s 32 starting quarterbacks, Tannehill is among only four who have had their rise over each of the past three seasons. (Matthew Stafford, Luck and Tony Romo are the others.)

“He is a proven quarterback in this league that combines a talented skill-set with work ethic, passion, toughness, and a team first mentality,” general manager Dennis Hickey said in a statement. “We are committed and believe in Ryan as our quarterback for the long-term, and we are excited to be able to sign him to this extension.”

Tannehill finished the 2014 season with 4,045 passing yards, becoming the first Dolphins quarterback to throw for more than 4,000 yards since Dan Marino in 1992.

The team’s hope is that he will show more improvement 2015, which will be his second season in coordinator Bill Lazor’s spread offense.

To help Tannehill, the Dolphins added five new weapons to his arsenal this offseason — DeVante Parker, the former Louisville receiver selected in the first-round of the 2014 draft, veteran receiver Greg Jennings, third-year receiver Kenny Stills, former Pro Bowl tight end Jordan Cameron and rookie tailback Jay Ajayi.

But Tannehill has been the most sacked quarterback in the NFL the past three seasons (139), and it’s unclear whether the Dolphins have done enough to fortify his offensive line.

Former NFL quarterback Shaun King, an analyst for Yahoo Sports, feels that the league’s QBs are are divided into three tiers: the elites, who make $20 million-plus, the talented young arms, and the journeymen, who earn between $4-6 million a season.

King said Tannehill is in the talented young arm batch, right along with Luck, Wilson, Kaepernick and Cam Newton, and he said that group is benefiting from a weak crop of college quarterbacks, who are being stifled by spread offenses.

“Tannehill happened to be born in the right era as a quarterback, and that contract is what the market bears,” said King, who started 24 games in his six years in the NFL. “The cap keeps going up, so teams have more money to spend, and a lot of it is being spent at QB.”

With this deal, Tannehill becomes the second-highest paid Dolphins player in team history. He’s only behind defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who was signed to a six-year, $114 million contract this offseason.