Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa plans to sign a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The move now will give the Falcons two left-handed quarterbacks, Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr., heading into the 2026 season.
Tagovailoa was informed Monday that he will be released by the Dolphins.
The Falcons entered the offseason in the market for a quarterback, with Penix Jr. recovering from a knee injury and Kirk Cousins set to be released before the start of the new league year Wednesday.
Atlanta's answer at the position is Tagovailoa, who will cost the Dolphins an NFL-record $99.2 million in dead money against the salary cap. A source told Schefter that Tagovailoa's release will be designated post-June 1, allowing the Dolphins to split the dead money over two years.
The post-June 1 designation will leave the Dolphins with a $67.4 million dead hit against the salary cap in 2026, followed by $31.8 million in 2027. The move ends Tagovailoa's six seasons in Miami only one year into the franchise-record extension he signed in 2024.
Penix, who was the Falcons' starter last season, went down with a torn left ACL in Week 11. His return date is unclear, though Penix has told reporters that he believes he will be ready for Week 1.
After Penix's injury, the Falcons turned to Cousins, who led Atlanta to four straight wins to close out the season and salvage an 8-9 record.
Atlanta drafted Penix at No. 8 in 2024, just weeks after signing Cousins to a contract with $100 million guaranteed. Cousins led the Falcons to a 6-3 start in 2024 before an arm injury derailed his season. Cousins was benched after a five-game stretch with nine interceptions, and Penix was given the starting role moving forward.
The Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot after the season. They hired former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and Ian Cunningham to fill those respective roles. The Falcons also brought in former quarterback Matt Ryan as the president of football -- a new position -- to oversee the head coach and GM.
The Dolphins owe Tagovailoa $54 million in guaranteed money in 2026, minus any salary he makes from another team. His total dead cap hit tops the previous record of $85 million that the Denver Broncos absorbed by releasing Russell Wilson in 2024.
Tagovailoa's future in Miami was under public scrutiny for months after he was benched for the final three games of the 2025 season. Sullivan said at the NFL scouting combine that "everything is on the table" with the former first-round draft pick, including a trade.
The Dolphins drafted Tagovailoa with the fifth overall selection in 2020 after a prolific career at Alabama. He became their full-time starting quarterback in 2021, throwing for 2,653 yards and 16 touchdowns against 10 interceptions.
Tagovailoa broke out in 2022, his first with coach Mike McDaniel, throwing for 3,548 yards and 25 touchdowns while driving a Dolphins attack that finished sixth in total offense. However, he missed four games after suffering two documented concussions, and a third hit to the head that led the NFL to alter its reporting process for concussions.
Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards in 2023 with 4,624 and set a career high with 29 touchdown passes; he played all 18 of Miami's games, including an AFC wild-card loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. That offseason, he signed a four-year, $212.4 million extension with the Dolphins that made him the highest-paid player in franchise history.
Tagovailoa led the league in completion percentage in 2024 but missed a career-high six games with a concussion and a late-season hip injury. His play was inconsistent throughout the season, and that trend continued into 2025, when he was ultimately benched for the final three games after throwing a career-high 15 interceptions.
ESPN's Marc Raimondi and Marcel Louis-Jacques contributed to this report.
