The Atlanta Falcons aren't banking on Tua Tagovailoa to be their savior this season. He's still set to embark on a quarterback competition with Michael Penix Jr., but knowing that the Falcons could find a starting QB for $1.3 million is a worthy investment for a team looking for an answer under center.
This is a former Pro Bowl quarterback who has led the NFL in two different statistics in 2023 (passing yards) and 2024 (completion percentage). After impressing in mandatory minicamp, Tua is the early favorite to win the QB battle, and he should very well turn things around in a better situation this year.
But in typical Falcons fashion, they're being overlooked despite the Tua signing. And this isn't the regular underdog mentality that every fanbase has nowadays, this is one of the most egregious instances of a talented team being disrespected because of a QB battle that's better than we think.
Even with Tua Tagovailoa, the Falcons are still being wildly overlooked
While ESPN's Mike Clay, Aaron Schatz, and Seth Walder ranked all 32 projected starting lineups, they gave the Falcons a placement of tied for 29th in the NFL and last in the NFC South. And their reason for this was their biggest weakness at QB. Translation: they don't believe in Tua to turn things around.
"Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa are battling for the job," Clay wrote. ... He tore his left ACL in Week 11 last season and now has added competition in Tagovailoa. The former Dolphin has flashed at times during his career, but Miami took on a record $99 million in dead money to move on from him after a disappointing 2025 season."
I understand blaming an offense for not having concrete answers at QB, but having a Tagovailoa-led starting lineup tied with the Jacoby Brissett Cardinals is just flat-out brutal. There is no world where these two signal-callers even belong in the same sentence, even after how Tua played in 2025.
Why exactly are we blaming the Dirty Birds for the Dolphins having to pay the 28-year-old $99 million in dead money? Ian Cunningham isn't Chris Grier. He managed to sign the same signal-caller for the league minimum that Miami signed to a $212 million deal, and that's to compete for the starting job.
As one of the league's most accurate passers, Tua is a perfect fit for Kevin Stefanski's offense that lives and dies on timing and accuracy. He'll be throwing to an elite group of weapons led by Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, and Atlanta's offensive line is the best he's ever played with.
Falcons fans should be used to the disrespect this team has dealt with after not sniffing the playoffs since Matt Ryan was playing, but this is a whole new level. Not one, not two, but three ESPN analysts looked past Tagovailoa's track record because a of 15-pick season, but they missed the narrative.
The Falcons are one of the NFL's most talented teams, but there's been some gross revisionist history around the talent on this roster. This is a team with real merit to win the NFC South, and all they need to do that is just adequate QB play. And Tagovailoa is set to provide that if he wins the job.
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