In July 2024, Tua Tagovailoa agreed to a four-year, $212.4 million extension with the Miami Dolphins.
Miami selected Tagovailoa at No. 5 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, and the Alabama alum found his stride with then-head coach Mike McDaniel. In 2023, Tagovailoa led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards, paired with 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, on 69.3% completion. The 11-6 Dolphins made the playoffs for a second straight season but lost to the eventual champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Wild Card.
Less than two years later, the Dolphins released Tagovailoa at the start of the new league year on March 11, and the 28-year-old quarterback signed with the Atlanta Falcons.
Tagovailoa held his introductory press conference on Tuesday.
Tagovailoa was tight-lipped when asked about dysfunction within the Dolphins last season.
“I don’t want to get too much in depth with things that were going on, more so in terms of players-to-coaches than it was players-to-players. But it was unique,” he said.
Tagovailoa declined to specify what he meant by “unique,” and instead just giggled.
Otherwise, Tagovailoa was an open book.
“If you’re looking at last year, my play wasn’t up to the standard of the way I’ve been playing football the past three years since the new contract,” Tagovailoa told reporters. “I just gotta play better football. That’s what that really means. There’s no other way to sugarcoat that or go around that.”
Tagovailoa also detailed his thought process as he surveyed the league after becoming an unrestricted free agent:
“You don’t choose a team based off of whether I’m gonna be starting or not,” he said. “I think you look at the entirety of the group, right? As I was looking at the other teams, I knew I had to compete regardless of what that was gonna look like. Coming here, I kind of know [Falcons quarterback] Mike [Penix Jr.] a little bit based off of his relationship with my little brother as they were coming out for the draft. In that sense, I got in contact with Mike and whatnot, talked with him.
Moving forward from there, competition is just a thing in the NFL. I am no stranger to competition. Had it in college, and I would say competition is just gonna be there. Competition enhances the play of everyone that you’re surrounded with. Last year wasn’t the best year for me, and I’m looking for a fresh start. But ‘fresh start’ in the sense of being able to compete, being able to go back out there and play football — good football — and I think the best football is still ahead of me.”
Tagovailoa struggled immensely in 2025. He threw the second-most interceptions (15) in the NFL against just 20 touchdowns across 14 games. By mid-December, the Dolphins benched Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa’s release was designated as a post-June 1 cut to allow for the Dolphins to spread out his NFL-record $99.2 million in dead salary cap across two years.
Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that Tagovailoa “knows he’s coming in to compete” with Penix Jr. for the starting job. Atlanta drafted Penix Jr. eighth overall in 2024.
Penix Jr. underwent ACL reconstruction surgery last November, so there are solid odds that Tagovailoa will be the Falcons’ Week 1 starter while Penix Jr. works back to 100%. Penix Jr. and Tagovailoa are both left-handed QBs.
The Falcons finished 8-9 last season and fired head coach Raheem Morris. Atlanta hired former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, who brought offensive coordinator Tommy Rees with him.
