The National Football League’s legal tampering window brought with it a litany of surprises, and while the Miami Dolphins’ decision to release Tua Tagovailoa may not have necessarily been one of them, it was still a bit of a shock to see the Atlanta Falcons make an immediate move for the six-year veteran.
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Tagovailoa is officially the latest signal caller in what has become an embarrassingly mismanaged QB room, and many are assuming that he’ll be the team’s starter over Michael Penix Jr.
Much was made of the Falcons’ contract situation with Kirk Cousins, and the same holds true for their decision to select Penix with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. One of their biggest critics when it comes to both of those issues has been Cam Newton, who now believes that the franchise has made yet another misstep by picking Tagovailoa.
“Michael Penix is probably the only person that likes this pick,” Newton exclaimed during the latest episode of his 4th & 1 podcast. “Because he knows Tua is going to do something that ain’t going to keep him from a job.”
According to the 2015 regular season MVP, the Falcons would have been much better off with a quarterback like Kyler Murray, who he suggested “made more sense” than the former Dolphin. “Kyler Murray is going to get the butter from the duck from Michael Penix,” he offered. “They are going to push each other.”
Going as far as to label both Penix and Tagovailoa as a pair of “walking blue tents,” Newton made it clear that, in his mind at least, neither one of them has earned the right to go unchallenged for a starting role in the NFL. So, despite the general consensus being that Tagovailoa will be the starter simply because he just so happens to be the quarterback that was signed most recently, Newton is still willing to bet on a QB race breaking out during Atlanta’s upcoming training camps.
Thankfully, for both Penix and Tagovailoa, the franchise did decide to finally part ways with the aforementioned Cousins, meaning that there will at least be one less name to worry about throughout the coming months. Although, given his most recent rate of play, it’s safe to say that the 37 year old wouldn’t have been much of a threat anyways had he stuck around for another season.
Should Tagovailoa ultimately become the starting quarterback of the Falcons, then he will have been the sixth signal caller to do so since the retirement of Matt Ryan.
While that’s in some ways a testament to Ryan’s longevity and consistency, it also highlights the dysfunction that has taken place since his departure and likely explains why they named him as their president of football operations in the first place.
