Who will the Atlanta Falcons bring in to replace/compete with/back up Michael Penix Jr.? It’s one of the central questions of the offseason, and while we’re likely only weeks away from finding out, a little healthy anxiety about the option is normal.
Only the Falcons know who they’re after, but there are those around the league who have conversations with Falcons staffers, agents, and players and may have an idea. Based on reporting from the NFL Scouting Combine, insiders have the NFL believing Atlanta
will wind up with Joe Flacco or maybe Tua Tagovailoa in 2026.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano made it clear he heard from plenty of folks in league circles who expect Flacco to join Kevin Stefanski in Atlanta, an option I’ve identified as likely basically since Stefanski was hired. Flacco played for Stefanski in 2023 and 2025 before Cleveland’s front office shipped him out last year, with that 2023 stint responsible for revitalizing his career as a starter. Flacco can still sling it heading into his age 41 season, even if he’s most immovable, and would be a stylistic complement to Penix who could fill in but would not bristle at being a backup if it came to that. He’s a very logical choice, albeit one I wouldn’t be interested in investing in beyond 2026.
Tagovailoa is a different story. In that same article, an NFL coach told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (unprompted, as Fowler puts it) to keep an eye on Tua to the Falcons. The 28-year-old quarterback is considerably younger than Flacco and would seem to have more upside, but his tenure ended awfully in Miami, he’s been brutally bad in the intermediate-to-deep middle and as a deep passer in general in recent years, and he’s suffered multiple scary concussions along the way. If Tua was outright released by the Dolphins and the Falcons could get him for cheap, believing he could bounce back elsewhere, then I’d understand the interest to a degree. A trade would be a complete non-starter in my mind, because of concerns that Tua needs a very specific system to thrive and is one injury away from the end of his career.
I’d view Flacco as the clubhouse leader at the moment, but it’s worth keeping an eye on any number of options as the Falcons try to figure out how to address quarterback this offseason.
