In ESPN’s NFL Scouting Combine notebook from Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler, the Falcons were linked to veteran QBs Joe Flacco and Tua Tagovailoa.
Graziano wrote that he talked to a lot of folks in Indianapolis who expected Flacco to join new Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski in Atlanta. Stefanski coached Flacco with the Browns for a couple of stints, one of which resulted in a playoff berth.
Fowler says one coach told him unprompted, “Watch for Tua in Atlanta.”
Atlanta is expected to add to the room this offseason, as they need a new backup and a potential insurance starter early in the season as QB Michael Penix Jr. comes back from his torn ACL.
There are also questions about how committed Atlanta is to Penix as a long-term starter.
The Dolphins are expected to cut Tagovailoa in the next couple of weeks, while Flacco is a free agent and looking for a bigger role than just a backup in 2026.
Tagovailoa, 27, was selected with the No. 5 overall pick out of Alabama in 2020 by the Dolphins. He signed a four-year, $30,275,438 rookie contract with a $19,578,501 signing bonus. He earned a base salary of $1,010,000 in the final year of his deal.
The Dolphins picked up Tagovailoa’s fifth-year option worth $23,171,000 for the 2024 season.
From there, the team re-signed him to a four-year deal worth up to $212 million that included $167 million guaranteed.
In 2025, Tagovailoa appeared in 14 games for the Dolphins and completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.
Flacco, 41, is a former first-round pick of the Ravens back in 2008. After over a decade in Baltimore, the Broncos agreed to trade a 2019 fourth-round pick to the Ravens for Flacco.
Flacco was in the fourth year of a six-year, $125 million contract that contained $44 million guaranteed and set to make a base salary of $20.25 million for 2020 when Denver released him with a failed physical designation.
He signed a one-year contract worth $1.5 million and up to $4.5 million with the Jets in 2020 before joining the Eagles in 2021. Philadelphia traded him back to the Jets ahead of the deadline for a conditional sixth-round pick.
Flacco later re-signed with the Jets on a one-year, $3.5 million deal in 2022. He signed on with the Browns during the season in 2023 and parlayed a strong performance into a deal with the Colts in 2024.
He re-signed with Cleveland on a one-year deal this offseason but was traded to the Bengals before Week 6 of the regular season.
In 2025, Flacco appeared in 13 games for the Browns and Bengals and completed 60.3 percent of his pass attempts for 2,479 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
We’ll have more on the Falcons’ plans at quarterback as the news is available.
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