Tua Tagovailoa wouldn’t be on the Falcons right now if he’d played up to expectations in Miami the last couple of years, but that’s not new information for him.
Tagovailoa agreed to sign with Atlanta before he was officially released by the Dolphins and the quarterback spoke to reporters on Tuesday for the first time since agreeing to that deal. Tagovailoa acknowledged that his play failed to reach the standard he set for himself before the Dolphins opted to bench him for the final weeks of the regular season before adding that he appreciates the chance for a fresh start with the Falcons.
“I think the best football is ahead of me,” Tagovailoa said, via Tori Mcelhaney of the team’s website.
Atlanta drafted Michael Penix in the first round in 2024, so it’s not a sure thing that Tagovailoa will get a chance to show off his skills on the field. He said on Tuesday that he welcomes the chance to compete for playing time and to aid Penix in any way he can once they begin working together at practice. Penix’s health as he recovers from a torn ACL will be another part of the team’s quarterback choice, but Tagovailoa sounds ready for things to take any path for the 2026 season.
Falcons Clips
The Falcons are adding another quarterback to their roster.
Agent Blake Baratz told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN that his client Trevor Siemian has agreed to a contract with Atlanta. He will join Michael Penix and Tua Tagovailoa in the team’s quarterback room.
Siemian spent the last two seasons with the Titans and did not appear in any games while spending most of his time on the practice squad. He appeared in five games and made three starts for the Jets in 2023 and has also started games for the Bears, Saints and Broncos since entering the league as a 2015 seventh-round pick in Denver.
Penix is recovering from a torn ACL, which will limit his workload for some time and should leave a good number of reps for Siemian to handle once the Falcons get back on the field in the coming weeks.
The Giants are adding some depth for their defensive line.
Per Via Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, New York is signing Sam Roberts to a one-year deal.
Roberts, 27, appeared in five games for Atlanta in 2025, recording 18 total tackles, one tackle for loss, and his first career sack.
A Patriots sixth-round pick in 2022, Roberts has appeared in 20 games with two starts for New England, Carolina, and Atlanta.
The Falcons took a pair of edge rushers in the first round of last year’s draft and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich spent some time talking about one of them during Georgia’s Pro Day last week.
Jalon Walker played his college ball for the Bulldogs and played well enough for the Falcons to make him the 15th overall pick last year. Walker had 36 tackles, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery as a rookie and Ulbrich said that he thinks the player will be even more productive in 2026.
“I’ll say this, the vision for him is so much clearer in Year 2,” Ulbrich told Bryce Koon of Glory Glory, via the Falcons website. “He’s going to make huge strides this year in every way — from a pass rush perspective, a pure end perspective. But then also we’re going to start to also utilize his versatility off the ball and all the stuff he can do.”
A leap forward for Walker would be even more significant for the Falcons in light of the situation with fellow 2025 first-rounder James Pearce. Pearce had 10.5 sacks as a rookie, but he faces multiple felony charges related to an incident with his former girlfriend and he may not be available for all of the coming season as the legal process plays out.
The Eagles are trading safety Sydney Brown to the Falcons for a swap of picks, according to multiple reports.
The teams swapped fourth- and sixth-round picks, with Philadelphia acquiring picks No. 114 and 197 and Atlanta receiving picks No. 122 and 215 in addition to Brown.
Brown is entering the final year of his contract with a $1.484 million base salary and a $1.829 million salary cap hit.
Brown, who turns 26 on Saturday, has played 42 games with nine starts in his three seasons. He has totaled 86 tackles, two interceptions, five passes defensed and two forced fumbles.
The Eagles made him a third-round pick in 2023.
In 2025, Brown played all 17 games with three starts, seeing action on 22 percent of the defensive snaps and 76 on special teams.
DeMarcco Hellams, who has played only 11 games the past three seasons due to injury, was the third safety for the Falcons before the trade.
The Dolphins are adding a punter.
Miami has agreed to terms with Bradley Pinion, according to a report from NFL Media.
Pinion, 31, spent the last four years with the Falcons. He averaged 45.1 yards per punt with a 40.6-yard net average in 2025 and 53.1 percent of his punts downed inside the 20-yard line.
Pinion has also served as a kickoff specialist, with his touchback rate at 24.4 percent in 2025.
A 49ers fifth-round pick in 2015, Pinion spent his first four seasons with San Francisco before heading to Tampa Bay in 2019. He then signed with the Falcons in the summer of 2022.
The Falcons have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Holmes, 27, spent the past two seasons in Las Vegas.
He played 29 games but started only one for the Raiders, seeing action on 471 defensive snaps and 126 on special teams. Holmes totaled 49 tackles, a sack and three pass breakups in his time with the Raiders.
The Giants made Holmes a fourth-round pick in 2020.
He has appeared in 83 games with 12 starts in six NFL seasons, recording 164 tackles, four interceptions, 21 passes defended, two forced fumbles and 1.5 sacks.
Holmes has experience playing the nickel, providing the team with a backup plan if Billy Bowman Jr. doesn’t return from his Achilles injury before the start of the 2026 season.
Arizona has added a tight end.
The Cardinals announced on Wednesday that Teagan Quitoriano has signed with the team on a one-year contract.
Quitoriano, 26, was a Houston fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft, effectively spending his first three seasons with the club. He caught nine passes for 33 yards with two touchdowns with the Texans. He signed with the Falcons last March, appearing in 17 games with one start in 2025.
Teagan was mainly used as a special teams player, as he was on the field for 54 percent of the unit’s snaps last season. He played just 12 percent of offensive snaps.
Additionally, the Cardinals announced the previously reported signing of Devin Duvernay to a one-year deal.
The Falcons kicked off the offseason by installing a new group of decision-makers at the top of the franchise and they’ve spent the last week putting their stamp on the roster.
President of football Matt Ryan, General Manager Ian Cunningham and head coach Kevin Stefanski got the ball rolling by using a franchise tag on tight end Kyle Pitts and then moved on to signing players like quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, wide receiver Jahan Dotson, kicker Nick Folk, tight end Austin Hooper, punter Jake Bailey, edge rusher Samson Ebukam and others.
Cunningham said that the team went into the offseason “looking to elevate our floor” and he feels that they have succeeded in that effort.
“For the fans, I’m excited,” Cunningham said, via the team’s website. “We all are excited. We feel like we got better this week. Like I said, we’ve elevated our floor, but we’ve also got players that are coming in here ready to prove themselves, to showcase their ability and help our team for the now and in the future.”
The Falcons have not been to the playoffs since 2017 and Raheem Morris was the second straight head coach to pass through Atlanta without taking them to the postseason during his tenure. Stefanski’s chances to break that trend will be determined by how much higher he can get the ceiling in the coming months.
Cornerback Nahshon Wright’s play with the Bears during the 2025 season landed him a contract with the Jets and it earned him the most performance-based pay in the league for last year as well.
The NFL announced that Wright earned more than $1.44 million in performance-based pay. The bonus more than doubles Wright’s base salary for the season.
Wright signed with the Bears after being released by the Vikings last April. He was named to the Pro Bowl after recording 80 tackles, five interceptions, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries during the regular season.
The performance-based pay fund is part of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement to compensate all players based on a formula encompassing their playing time and salary. It paid out more than $542 million for the 2025 season.
Browns safety Ronnie Hickman earned over $1.293 million for second place and tackle Elijah Wilkinson earned over $1.272 million for his work with the Falcons. Wilkinson has since signed with the Cardinals.
Panthers safety Nick Scott, former Commanders guard Chris Paul, Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees, Vikings defensive end Jalen Redmond, Steelers guard Mason McCormick, Chiefs defensive back Chamarri Conner, and Patriots safety Craig Woodson make up the rest of the top 10 recipients of performance-based pay for 2025.
