Tua Tagovailoa will freely concede that his last year in Miami didn’t live up to anything close to expectations. He won’t go into details, but nobody was happy — least of all him — with a benching-grade season in which he threw 15 interceptions and the Dolphins as a franchise cratered.
“My play wasn’t up to the standard of the way I’ve been playing football the past three years,” Tagovailoa told reporters on Tuesday at his introductory press conference in Atlanta. “Got to play better football. That’s what that really means. There’s no other way to sugarcoat that or go around that.”
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The Falcons signed Tagovailoa to a one-year, $1.3 million contract earlier this month shortly after the Dolphins released him. Tagovailoa offers the Falcons an incredibly low-cost option if injured starter Michael Penix Jr. isn’t ready to go after November ACL surgery … or if he’s not playing at the expected level once he’s in the lineup.
When Penix tore his left ACL in Week 11 last season, the Falcons faced a host of bad choices. Kirk Cousins spelled Penix for the remainder of the season, very nearly taking the Falcons to a playoff berth. But Cousins’ age, salary and injury history all worked against him, and Atlanta released Cousins earlier this month.
Enter Tagovailoa.
Back in 2022, the Dolphins were beginning to ride high with Tua Tagovailoa. But that faith quickly evaporated as he battled injuries and inefectiveness. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
“Last year wasn’t the best year for me,” Tagovailoa said. “I’m looking for a fresh start, but fresh start in the sense of being able to compete, being able to go back out there and playing football, good football. And I think the best football is still ahead of me.”
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The quarterback isn’t the only new face in town; Atlanta is in the midst of a total front-office overhaul. The Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot after two straight 8-9 seasons, bringing in former Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski and former Chicago assistant general manager Ian Cunningham. Franchise legend Matt Ryan now serves in the newly created President of Football position. It will be up to this crew to maximize the talents of the roster.
“You got YAC in Kyle Pitts, you can throw it in the vicinity of Drake (London), Drake’s going to catch it,” Tagovailoa said. “You got a back like Bijan. … I think it can be really dangerous.”
Cunningham has laid down the ground rules for Atlanta’s quarterback position from the jump. “For Tua coming in here, he knows he’s coming in to compete,” Cunningham said recently. “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.”
“Competition is just a thing in the NFL,” Tagovailoa said. “I am no stranger to competition. Had it in college. And I would say competition is just going to be there, and competition enhances the play of everyone that you’re surrounded with.”
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Tagovailoa represents a massive $67.4 million dead cap hit to the Dolphins, who drafted the former Alabama star and tried very hard to make it work for six seasons. Over his career, Tagovailoa has thrown for 18,166 yards, 120 touchdowns and 59 interceptions — though 15 of those interceptions came last year, forcing Tagovailoa to the bench.
Tagovailoa has also suffered several concussions throughout his career, meaning that like Penix, he brings a history of injuries to the Falcons roster. That will make for an interesting quarterback competition between the two.
“I’m not looking at it as just, OK, you do your thing, I’m a competitor, I’m going to compete over here,” Tagovailoa said of battling with Penix for the starting spot. “Everyone has to pull their own weight with this, and it’s the collection of what’s best for the team, not just the individual. I’m going to do all that I can to help him in whatever he needs with his game, and by doing that, I hope it enhances his game to enhance mine, and vice versa, and we keep growing and battling together in that sense.”
On the positive side, Tagovailoa has enjoyed some of the finest moments of his career in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Last season, he threw four touchdowns in an upset win over Atlanta that would effectively keep the Falcons out of the playoffs. Much more significantly, he came on for Alabama in the second half of the 2018 national championship game against Georgia and threw the game-winning touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith on an instant-classic second-and-26 overtime play. He’s hoping that some of that magic will carry on into 2026.
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“The best thing right now is making the best of this opportunity that I have with the team on my one year,” he said. “I get to freaking play football. This is what I’ve dreamed of my entire life. So regardless of what that looks like, I’m going to be present. I’m going to be in the moment. I’m going to be where my feet are.”
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