Atlanta Falcons

Defensive tackle David Onyemata is headed to the Jets.

Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that Onyemata has agreed to a one-year deal with the AFC East club. The pact is worth $10.5 million with $9.65 million in guaranteed money.

Onyemata is the latest in a series of defensive additions the Jets have made on Monday. They have also struck deals with linebacker Demario Davis, defensive end Kingsley Enagbare, and defensive end Joseph Ossai while agreeing to trade for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Onyemata spent the last three seasons in Atlanta and started all 17 games for the Falcons in 2025. He had 62 tackles and a sack in those appearances.

Tyler Allgeier is headed to the desert.

According to multiple reports, Allgeier has agreed to a two-year deal with the Cardinals.

A fifth-round pick in 2022, Allgeier has rushed for 2,876 yards with 18 touchdowns in 67 games in his career. He’s also caught 61 passes for 516 yards with two TDs.

While Allgeier rushed for 1,035 yards with three touchdowns as a rookie, he hasn’t reached that level of production since, as Atlanta drafted Bijan Robinson in 2023.

Still, Allgier has been durable, playing all 17 games in each of the last three seasons.

The Cardinals recently struck a deal to retain starting running back James Conner, who missed most of the 2025 season with a foot injury. Allgeier will provide another solid option at the position for new head coach Mike LaFleur.

Kicker Nick Folk is moving to a new team for his 19th NFL season.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that Folk has agreed to sign with the Falcons when the new league year opens on Wednesday. It is a two-year deal for the 41-year-old kicker.

Folk was 28-of-29 on field goals for the Jets last season and led the league in field goal percentage for the third straight season. He also connected on all 22 of his extra point attempts.

NFL Media also reports that tight end Austin Hooper has agreed to a one-year, $3.25 million deal with the Falcons. Hooper was a 2016 third-round pick in Atlanta and spent four seasons with the team. He spent 2025 with the Patriots and had 21 catches for 263 yards and two touchdowns for the AFC champions.

Wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus is heading back to Atlanta.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that Zaccheaus has agreed to terms with the Falcons on Monday. Those terms have not been disclosed yet.

Zaccheaus signed with the Falcons after going undrafted in 2019 and spent four seasons with the team. He moved on to the Eagles in 2023, played for the Commanders in 2024 and caught 39 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns in Chicago last season. He also had two catches for 17 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs for the Bears.

Zaccheaus had 94 catches for 1,328 yards and eight touchdowns during his first stint with the Falcons.

With the Dolphins throwing in the towel on a potential Tua Tagovailoa trade and announcing on Monday that he’ll be released, the next question becomes where he’ll land.

And the word is already getting out, per multiple reports, that the Falcons are expected to make a play for him.

As mentioned over the weekend, the Falcons make sense. With the Dolphins owing Tua $54 million in 2026, he could be signed for the one-year minimum of $1.3 million. Also, with current Falcons starter Michael Penix Jr. recovering from a torn ACL and with new management not committing to him, Tua could be a low-cost, high-reward replacement.

The Falcons saw what he could do last year, when the Dolphins won 34-10 in Atlanta. Tua threw four touchdown passes and no interceptions in the game.

The Falcons have plenty of potent offensive weapons. Tua would give them a pair of lefties at quarterback, making it easier for the pass catchers to adjust to the presence of the ball before the throw, and to its spin, if both Tua and Penix play.

For now, the Falcons are firmly in play for Tua. And if he ends up with multiple suitors, it will be critical to use that leverage to get something that would guarantee a trip to the market next year, if everything goes well this year — a no-tag clause.

The Falcons have finalized Kevin Stefanski’s first coaching staff.

The final addition to the staff came over the weekend when the Falcons hired defensive quality control coach Troy Kruchten. Kruchten was most recently an assistant coach at Georgia State.

Kruchten joins a defensive staff headed up by returning coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. It also includes secondary coach Justin Hood, senior defensive assistant Dave Huxtable, assistant defensive backs/nickels coach Ricky Mannnig, defensive line coach Nate Ollie, linebackers coach Barrett Ruud, outside linebackers coach John Timu, and defensive passing game coordinator Patrick Toney.

Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will be joined by offensive assistant Michael Bearden, offensive line coach Bill Callahan, passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand, assistant offensive line coach Matt Jones, assistant offensive line coach Nick Jones, tight ends coach Kevin Koger, running backs coach Michael Pitre, wide receivers coach Robert Prince, assistant quarterbacks coach Jordan Reid, and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt.

Special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman, assistant special teams coach Chase Blackburn, senior advisor to the head coach Bob Quinn, manager of coaching administration/family services Madison McDoulett, and manager of coaching operations Jacqueline Roberts are also on the staff.

When the new league year begins and multiple veteran quarterbacks are released, multiple teams will be in line for a major bargain.

With the Cardinals owing Kyler Murray $36.8 million, the Raiders owing Geno Smith $18.5 million, and the Dolphins owing Tua Tagovailoa $54 million, each could take a one-year deal for $1.3 million and stick their former teams with the balance.

That’s what Russell Wilson did two years ago, after the Broncos released him. Denver owed Wilson $39 million. He took a one-year contract for the then-veteran minimum of $1.21 million. (That year, the Steelers ultimately paid their entire depth chart — Wilson, Justin Fields, Kyle Allen — less than former Pittsburgh backup Mason Rudolph got in Tennessee.)

While there’s a chance Smith can command more than $18.5 million, Murray and Tagovailoa definitely will be in the minimum-salary category. It makes both of them more attractive.

The Vikings undoubtedly will pursue one of them. Other teams will, too. And they each should try to get a no-trade clause and a no-tag clause, guaranteeing that: (1) they won’t be shipped to another team without having input in the matter; and (2) they’ll have a clear shot at free agency if things go well in 2026.

Kirk Cousins, who also will be cut on Wednesday, has a 2026 guarantee of only $10 million. Based on his performance in 2025, he most likely will not be a minimum-salary option. The availability of the other three, however, could make it harder for Cousins to find a landing spot. Some teams will be inclined to take a far cheaper option in lieu of paying Cousins at least $20 million for 2026, if not more.

Nine days after firing a defensive assistant, the Falcons have hired one.

The Falcons announced that they hired Troy Kruchten as a defensive quality control coach.

That hiring comes after the firing of assistant defensive line coach LaTroy Lewis following an allegation of violence against a woman.

Kruchten was most recently an assistant coach at Georgia State, where he coached outside linebackers, nickels and special teams. Before that he was a graduate assistant at Florida coaching linebackers, following a college career playing linebacker at both Southeastern Louisiana and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

On Wednesday, the Cardinals will release Kyler Murray, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft. Those inclined to bet on propositions like a player’s next team regard the Vikings as the clear favorites to sign him.

On DraftKings, Murray’s odds have moved from -110 to -295. The next team is the Jets at +350.

The Dolphins are at +550, with the Falcons at +650. The Browns are +800. The Steelers are +1300, the Colts are +1600. The Rams are +2000.

The offensive rookie of the year and two-time Pro Bowler had three solid seasons in Arizona. The next four seasons, which were marred by an ill-advised homework clause and a torn ACL suffered in December 2022, did not go nearly as well.

Making Murray more attractive is the possibility that he’ll do a one-year, $1.3 million contract, with the Cardinals paying him $35.5 million.

The first question is whether he wants to play right away, or whether he’s content to join a team like the Rams as a backup, with the goal of hitting the reset button in advance of 2027. Given his skills, why spend a season on the sideline? He should be looking to play now, with the goal of playing well enough that another big contract will come his way next March, if not sooner.

Tua Tagovailoa’s time as the starting quarterback of the Dolphins ended on a Monday night in December against the Steelers. Soon, we’ll know whether the Dolphins will be trading or releasing him.

The past errors in the handling of Tua’s contract don’t matter. Obviously, the Dolphins never should have swapped his fifth-year option in 2024 for a contract worth $53.1 million annually. They were bidding against themselves, and they won — and lost.

Now, the Dolphins owe him $54 million for 2026. They’ll absorb $99.2 million in dead-cap charges over 2026 and 2027 if he’s released. The only way to blunt that impact is to trade him. The only way to trade him is to attach assets to his contract. (His contract could be tucked into a broader trade in order to make it less obvious, like the Rams did when they added an extra first-round pick to the trade that brought Matthew Stafford to L.A. and unloaded Jared Goff’s remaining guarantees. It would be much more obvious this time around.)

The question moving forward is whether Tua will become the next first-round quarterback who thrives with another team.

His situation is different than folks like Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, and Geno Smith. Tua played well enough to get the team that drafted him to give him a a-market-is-the-market-level deal. In 2023, he started all 17 games and led the league in passing yardage (4,624). The prior season, he led the league in touchdown percentage (6.3), yards per attempt (8.9), and passer rating (105.5).

The knock has been that Tua has had too many head injuries, and that (as former teammate Xavien Howard said after the Week 1 game at Indianapolis in 2025) he reverts to “panic mode” when his first read isn’t open. As the 2025 season went on, he wasn’t sufficiently taking care of the ball. That eventually got him benched.

But Tua is hardly the only quarterback who can’t whip up chicken salad on the fly, or who has turnovers. And he’s good enough to play, for someone. Under the right circumstances, he could be as good as he was at his best in Miami.

The Jets need a quarterback. He’s 8-0 all-time against them, with a passer rating of 101.0. The Falcons need a quarterback, too. Tua torched them in Atlanta last season, with four touchdown passes in a 34-10 romp.

Look at Atlanta’s roster. Bijan Robinson. Drake London. Kyle Pitts Sr. The offensive line is good enough to buy Tua time. The defense has talent (the availability of James Pearce Jr. is currently up in the air). They finished in a three-way tie with the Panthers and Bucs last year, at 8-9. Put Tuta indoors for eight home games (the ninth will be played in Madrid) and two road games (New Orleans and Minnesota), and maybe he could thrive. (That said, there could be a few cold-weather games, since the Falcons will play in 2026 at Green Bay, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Washington.)

The Vikings are kicking tires on any/every available quarterback, too. They have nine indoor home games (including a visit from the Dolphins) and two road games in a dome at the Saints and Lions. (But, yes, there will be potential cold-weather contests at the Bears, Packers, Jets, and Patriots.)

With the Dolphins owing him $54 million in 2026, Tua could do a one-year, $1.3 million deal with a new team and stick the Dolphins for the $52.7 million balance. That makes him a low-risk, potential high-reward option. And if a coach is confident that he can scheme up plays that will allow Tua to find an open receiver quickly and to keep him from taking needless hits, he could do better than expected in his second NFL stop.

There’s still no guarantee it’ll happen in 2026. Because the Dolphins owe him so much money, they could keep him. It would be awkward, for both sides. But it’s possible. And the Dolphins could choose to keep him on the roster in the hopes that some team will eventually realize that: (1) it still needs a quarterback; and (2) it could do a lot worse than Tua Tagovailoa.

Sure, another $3 million (in 2027 salary) becomes fully guaranteed on Friday. But what’s another $3 million, when they already owe him $54 million?