It took nearly a month into the regular season, but the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback situation finally appears to be settled after being a question mark all year. That's how convincing Michael Penix Jr. was in his first start of the season last week against the Green Bay Packers.
Heaidng into Week 4's Monday night matchup with the New Orleans Saints, Penix is at the top of the depth chart at QB, as he should be. At No. 2 is Tua Tagovailoa, who's the only Falcons quarterback who we haven't seen play yet this season as he's dealt with multiple injuries.
It began on the first day of training camp, when Tagovailoa suddenly developed a back issue that put him on the sidelines. This led to Cooper Rush starting the first two games of the season with
disastrous results. Rush is now listed as the team's QB3, followed by undrafted rookie Jack Strand in the No. 4 spot.
Four quarterbacks is a lot of quarterbacks to carry - and it makes sense to try to get something for one of them before the trade deadline comes around Week 9. On that note, Tagovailoa has been named the most-tradeable asset on the team by Bleacher Report.
"Tua Tagovailoa was a Pro Bowler with the Miami Dolphins in 2023, but he was released just two years later. He signed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons in the offseason and was set to be Atlanta's Week 1 starter before he was sidelined by an oblique injury... If the Falcons believe that Penix is ready to be "the guy" and can put them back in the playoff hunt, then Tagovailoa might be the most expendable player on the roster who actually has any trade value—Cooper Rush, who started and performed poorly in Weeks 1 and 2, probably does not."
Tagovailoa may be too injury prone to trust with a QB1 job, even for a desperate team. However, as a backup you're not going to find many better options around the league with both experience and youth on their side.
Just a couple years ago Tua was still a Pro-Bowler, and has led the league in multiple passing categories. If he can ever get healthy and find the confidence that appeared to be lacking during his brief preseason action he may yet have some value for a team that needs QB depth.
Best of all Tagovailoa has a highly-tradeable contract. After eating his contract the Miami Dolphins took on an NFL-record $99 million dead cap hit, so the Falcons were able to sign him for the veteran minimum.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Veteran QB named Falcons' most-tradeable player
