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Mark Raimondi
multiple authors
atlanta falcons General manager Ian Cunningham said Friday definitively that the team is bringing tua tagovailoa to compete Michael Penix Jr.. For the starting quarterback job.
The Falcons signed Tagovailoa to a one-year, $1.3 million contract this week following his release. miami dolphins. Cunningham said Tagovailoa was at the Falcons building in Flowery Branch, Georgia, on Friday undergoing a physical.
“With Tua coming here, he knows he’s coming to compete,” Cunningham said during a virtual news conference. “Like Michael knows he’s coming to compete and everybody, quite frankly – not just those two at the quarterback position – but everybody is coming to compete.”
Penix is still recovering from left ACL surgery in November after tearing the ligament in Week 11. He has said in interviews that he will be ready for Week 1, although it is unclear. Typically, the injury takes nine to 12 months to heal.
The previous Falcons regime was adamant that Penix would become the starter as soon as he was healthy. The new group has not made the same commitment.
The Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot after the 2025 season, their second consecutive 8–9 campaign. Atlanta hires former cleveland browns Coach Kevin Stefanski has been appointed its new head coach and Cunningham, who was previously the assistant general manager, has been appointed. Chicago BearsAs GM.
The Falcons also added a new position: president of football, which is filled by former franchise quarterback Matt Ryan. Cunningham noted Friday that Stefanski had talked to Penix and that Cunningham himself had talked to Penix’s agent before signing Tagovailoa.
“You don’t want to blindside anyone and that’s how we work,” Cunningham said. “We want open dialogue and communication, and I think we’ve done that with respect to Michael and Tua.”
then-Falcons quarterback cancer cousin There was surprise and confusion when the Falcons drafted Penix at No. 8 overall in 2024 just weeks after signing Cousins to a $100 million guaranteed contract. Cousins lost the starting job to Penix at the end of the 2024 season, then filled in for Penix after he suffered an ACL tear last season. The Falcons released Cousins on Wednesday.
Cutting the 28-year-old Tagovailoa would cost the Dolphins a $67.4 million dead cap hit, though he represents a low-cost, high-symbol signing for the Falcons. Tagovailoa has a worrying history and threw 15 interceptions last season, which cost him his starting job. But he made the Pro Bowl in 2023 and was the NFL’s leader in completion percentage in 2024.
Tagovailoa, a left-handed quarterback like Penix, has completed 68% of his passes for 18,166 yards with 120 touchdown passes and 59 interceptions over his six-year career. The 25-year-old Penix has made just 12 career starts. He has completed 59.6% of his passes for 2,757 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.
