Sixth starter in six years, and the season hasn’t kicked off yet
Six days out from Week 1, Atlanta finally said it out loud. Tua Tagovailoa is the starting quarterback. The Falcons open Sunday against Pittsburgh.
The call was never obvious. Michael Penix Jr. started in 2025 before tearing his ACL last November, and he was only cleared for full practice in the closing week of camp. Atlanta went with the veteran instead of rolling the dice on a knee that has barely been tested.
Tagovailoa is the sixth different quarterback to open a season for this franchise in six years. Stability at the position remains something other teams have.
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A $1.3 million contract sitting next to a $99.2 million dead cap hit
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees backed him all through camp. “The biggest thing is that he’s a veteran. He reads the field really well, and if the defense makes a mistake, he sees it and takes advantage,” Rees said on the club’s website.
The money tells its own story. Miami drafted him fifth overall in 2020, then handed him a four-year, $212.4 million extension in July 2024. Twenty months later the Dolphins cut him, swallowing a record $99.2 million in dead cap. Atlanta signed him for one year and $1.3 million.
His body of work: 78 games, 76 starts, 44-32 as a starter, 68% completion, 18,166 yards, 120 touchdowns, 59 interceptions. One playoff appearance, in 2023, the year he led the league with 4,624 passing yards. Last season he managed 2,660 yards and a 6-8 record before the wheels came off.
Two franchises starting over on the same Sunday
Atlanta went 8-9 in 2025 and Raheem Morris paid for it. Kevin Stefanski, most recently in Cleveland, now runs the sideline.
Pittsburgh finished 10-7 and also changed hands. Aaron Rodgers is back for what he insists is his last season, reunited with Mike McCarthy, who took over from Mike Tomlin. Tomlin left the bench for a job at NBC Sports.
Two quarterbacks with something to prove, two coaching staffs still figuring out their own names in the building. Sunday will be messy.
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