What to Make of Tua's First Falcons Comments

After six years with the Miami Dolphins, most of them as the starting and what the organization hoped would be their franchise quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa is starting over with the Atlanta Falcons.

In his first public comments since he was released by the Dolphins and signed by the Falcons, Tagovailoa called his new situation a "reset."

Tagovailoa also said he would welcome the opportunity to compete with fellow former first-round pick (and lefty) Michael Penix Jr. for the change to become the starting quarterback for the Falcons in 2026.

It also should be noted for everyone who suggested there was something clearly physically wrong with Tua toward the end of last season that he passed his physical with the Falcons before they officially announced his signing.

COMPETITION IS NEW FOR TUA

Even having the chance to compete for a starting job is a positive development for Tagovailoa after the way his Dolphins tenure ended, with some mediocre performances that led to his eventual benching by head coach Mike McDaniel, for so long his biggest supporter.

"If there's no competition, I don't think anyone's getting better, in aspect of the field of work you're in," Tagovailoa told AtlantaFalcons.com. "I am excited to be able to compete against (Penix), to competewithhim, to be able to get to know my teammates on a personal level, knowing them from the outside in. We have a lot of good football players on this team, so I'm excited to get to play with these guys and get the chance to throw the ball around, conversate with them. I think it's going to be great."

Having to compete will be new for Tagovailoa, who never faced a challenge for his starting job in Miami after he was inserted into the lineup in the seventh game of his rookie season after the Dolphins' 2020 bye week was moved because of schedule changed necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The closest thing to adversity, in terms of his standing as the starter, came during that 2020 season when he was replaced at halftime of two games — against the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders.

But once 2021 arrived with veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick no longer on the roster, it was Tua all the way for the Dolphins.

The Dolphins had two solid veteran backups in 2021 and 2022 with Jacoby Brissett and Teddy Bridgewater, but the job was Tua's all along and then the Dolphins went to unproved younger quarterbacks Skylar Thompson and Mike White.

Tua saying competition would make him better raises the question of whether the Dolphins erred by not having anybody push him over the past three years, though that would have gone counter to the commitment they made to him as the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, to the commitment they made to him by hiring McDaniel to maximize his skill set, to the commitment they made to him by adding Tyreek Hill to the offense, to the major commitment they made to him with that regrettable contract extension of 2024.

Whether Tua would have benefited from having a legitimate challenger and a real competition for the starting job certainly is debatable, but the reality is you can't make the kind of commitment the Dolphins made and risk that player not start.

It's just bad asset management.

Then again, using $99 million of cap space over the next two years on a player no longer on the roster is right at the top when it comes to bad asset management.

STILL THE RIGHT CALL

But, as we've said before, moving on from Tagovailoa wasn't the mistake.

The big mistake already had been made, falling in with the notion that the next quarterback up for an extension needed to go at or near the top of the market regardless of his future outlook, which in Tua's case included his injury history and his inability to help the Dolphins break through against quality opponents even when the team experienced success in 2022 and 2023.

Starting over at quarterback always was the right play here, both for the Dolphins and for Tagovailoa.

As he said, he needed a reset and so did the Dolphins.

The question now is whether the Dolphins and Tagovailoa can both thrive in their new situations.