Atlanta Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said definitively Friday that the team is bringing in Tua Tagovailoa to compete with 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 from the Miami Dolphins. Cunningham said Tagovailoa is in the Falcons’ building Friday in Flowery Branch, Georgia, taking his physical.
“For Tua coming in here, he knows he’s coming in to compete,” Cunningham said during a virtual news conference. “Just like Michael knows that he’s coming in to compete and everybody, quite frankly — not just those two at the quarterback position — but everybody’s coming in 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, though it remains unclear. Typically, the injury has a recovery time between nine and 12 months.
The previous Falcons’ regime was adamant that Penix would be the starter as soon as he was healthy. The new group has not made that same commitment.
The Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot after the 2025 season, a second straight 8-9 campaign. Atlanta has hired former Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski as its new head coach and Cunningham, formerly the assistant general manager of the Chicago Bears, as GM.
The Falcons also added a new position: president of football, which has been filled by former franchise quarterback Matt Ryan. Cunningham noted Friday that Stefanski spoke with Penix, and Cunningham himself spoke with Penix’s agent before the signing of Tagovailoa.
“You don’t want to blindside somebody, and that’s just how we operate,” Cunningham said. “We want to have open conversations and communication, and I feel like we did that in regards to Michael and Tua.”
Then-Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was surprised and confused when the Falcons drafted Penix in 2024 at No. 8 just weeks after signing Cousins to a $100 million guaranteed contract. Cousins lost the starting job to Penix late in the 2024 season, then filled in for Penix after the torn ACL last season. The Falcons released Cousins on Wednesday.
Cutting Tagovailoa, 28, will cost the Dolphins a $67.4 million dead cap hit, though he represents a low-cost, high-upside signing for the Falcons. Tagovailoa has a concerning history of concussions and threw 15 interceptions last season, losing his starting job. But he made the Pro Bowl in 2023 and was the NFL’s completion percentage leader 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 in his six-year career. Penix, 25, has made just 12 career starts. He has completed 59.6% of his passes for 2,757 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.
