Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa plans to sign a one-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The move will now give the Falcons two left tackles, Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr., heading into the 2026 season.
Tagovailoa was informed Monday that he would be released by the Dolphins.
The Falcons entered the offseason in the market for a quarterback, with Penix Jr. recovering from a knee injury and Kirk Cousins set to be released before the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
Atlanta’s answer at the position is Tagovailoa, who will cost the Dolphins a record $99.2 million in dead money against the salary cap. A source told Schefter that Tagovailoa’s release will be set after June 1, allowing the Dolphins to split the dead money over two years.
A hire after June 1 would leave the Dolphins with a loss of $67.4 million against the salary cap in 2026, followed by $31.8 million in 2027. The move ends Tagovailoa’s six seasons in Miami just one year after the franchise-record extension he signed in 2024.
Penix, who was a starter for the Falcons last season, tore his left ACL in Week 11. His return date is unclear, though Penix told reporters he believes he will be ready for Week 1.
After Penix’s injury, the Falcons turned to Cousins, who led Atlanta to four straight wins to close out the season and salvage an 8-9 record.
Atlanta drafted Penix eighth overall in 2024, just weeks after signing Cousins to a $100 million guaranteed contract. Cousins led the Falcons to a 6-3 start in 2024 before an arm injury derailed his season. Cousins was benched after five games with nine interceptions, and Penix was given the starting role moving forward.
The Falcons fired coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot after the season. They hired former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and Ian Cunningham to fill those roles. The Falcons also brought in former quarterback Matt Ryan as president of football — a new position — to oversee the head coach and GM.
The Dolphins owe Tagovailoa $54 million in guaranteed money in 2026, minus any salary he receives from another team. The dead cap total exceeds the previous record of $85 million that the Denver Broncos absorbed by releasing Russell Wilson in 2024.
Tagovailoa’s future in Miami has been under public scrutiny for months after he was benched for the final three games of the 2025 season. Sullivan said at the NFL Scouting Combine that “everything is on the table” with the former first-round pick, including a trade.
The Dolphins drafted Tagovailoa with the fifth pick in 2020 after a prolific career at Alabama. He became a full-time quarterback in 2021, throwing for 2,653 yards and 16 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
Tagovailoa broke out in 2022, his first with coach Mike McDaniel, throwing for 3,548 yards and 25 touchdowns while leading a Dolphins offense that ranked sixth in total offense. However, he missed four games after suffering two documented concussions, and a third blow to the head that led to the NFL changing its concussion reporting process.
Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards in 2023 with 4,624 and set a career-high with 29 touchdown passes. He played in all 18 games for Miami, including the AFC wild-card loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. That season, he signed a four-year, $212.4 million extension with the Dolphins that made him the highest-paid player in franchise history.
Tagovailoa led the league in completion percentage in 2024 but missed a career-high six games due to a concussion and a late-season hip injury. His play was inconsistent all season, and that trend continued into 2025, when he was benched for the final three games after making a career-high 15 interceptions.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi and Marcel Louis Jacques contributed to this report.
