Remember when the Atlanta Falcons were going to hold a quarterback competition between Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa during training camp to determine the starter? Pepperidge Farm remembers. That seems like such a distant memory, especially since there never was a QB battle.
Tagovailoa was only named the starter because Penix wasn't fully healthy, but he never even got a shot to turn his career around. Just days before the season opener, he suffered an oblique injury that held him out of the first two games, but by the time he was able to return in Week 3, so did No. 9.
In five starts this season, Penix has finally looked like the franchise quarterback Atlanta has waited for him to be, which hasn't given them any reason to turn to Tua. He has a 9:1 TD:INT ratio on the year (with the one pick coming on his opening drive) and his return has unlocked an offense that has averaged 31 points per game across the last five weeks because they're playing into his strengths.
The Falcons were always going to start the former top-10 pick as long as he was healthy. They were just unsure of when that would be. And given he's finally broke out, not only has Penix relegated Tua to a backup role, it could give them a reason to consider shopping him at the trade deadline.
Would the Atlanta Falcons consider trading Tua Tagovailoa at the deadline?
The Dirty Birds clearly don't trust Tua Tagovailoa in the off-chance Michael Penix Jr. gets hurt again, because if they did, they wouldn't have signed 38-year-old Andy Dalton as backup competition. And now that they have Dalton, it makes it easier to finally stop rostering four QBs and get rid of one of them. And it won't be Penix or Jack Strand obviously, which makes Tua the obvious odd man out.
The Falcons only signed the 28-year-old to a one-year, $1.3 million deal, so finding a suitor who will want to take on that money will be easy. He's on an expiring minimum contract with no strings attached. But finding a team willing to trust one of the NFL's most volatile backups is another story.
Only three QBs have thrown more picks than the former Pro Bowler (Justin Herbert, Geno Smith, Sam Darnold) since the start of 2025. And let's also remember there are some obvious injury concerns that make him even less trustworthy--even as a backup. Between his concussion history and a 2024 hip injury that saw mechanics got a let worse, his inability to stay healthy has seen him regress.
Even with a questionable market, it doesn't matter who comes calling for a guy who is expendable. If new GM Ian Cunningham can get a sixth or even a seventh-round pick out of Tagovailoa instead of releasing him, that would be a win.
It remains to be seen whether the 3-4 Falcons are going to be buyers or sellers at this deadline, but regardless, Tua should on the chopping block. Other teams have made a mockery out of him, and given the only action he got this year was an ugly game-sealing pick is all the proof we need.
Michael Penix Jr. is playing out of his mind and even though Tua Tagovailoa can still be a solid backup QB, he can be one somewhere else. The Falcons have no incentive to keep him much longer.
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