Tagovailoa is looking for a 'fresh start' with Falcons after rocky finish to his stay with Dolphins
ATLANTA (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa said Tuesday his new one-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons provides an opportunity for a fresh start after a rocky finish to his six-year stay with the Miami Dolphins. Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said on March 13 Tagovailoa will have an opportunity to compete at quarterback with Michael Penix Jr. after Penix recovers from a torn ACL he suffered in November.
Tagovailoa said “competition is just a thing in the NFL” but added he'll have to play better than in 2025, when he set a career high with 15 interceptions before he was benched for the final three games. “If you’re looking at last year, my play wasn’t up to the standard of the way I’ve been playing football the past, what, three years since the new contract,” Tagovailoa said of the four-year, $212 million extension from the Dolphins in 2024. “So just got to play better football.
That’s what that really means. There’s no other way to sugarcoat that or go around that. ” The Dolphins will owe Tagovailoa $54 million in guaranteed money in 2026.
The one-year deal with the Falcons is for $1. 3 million, the minimum for a veteran. The agreement with Atlanta was reached after the Dolphins announced they were releasing Tagovailoa despite taking on an NFL-record $99 million dead cap hit.
Tagovailoa could open the season as Atlanta's starter if Penix is still recovering from his knee injury. That could provide an opportunity for Tagovailoa to prove he can return to his 2023 form when he led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards, and 2024, when he led the league by completing 72. 9% of his passes.