Who Should I Start? Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr.

Sunday, December 21, 12:54 PM

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was demoted to the third-string role ahead of Week 16, and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Tagovailoa has likely played his final snap with the team. Barring something unexpected, Miami will finish the year with Quinn Ewers and Zach Wilson as its active quarterbacks before re-evaluating the position group sans Tagovailoa during the offseason. Specifically, Rapoport said on Sunday that the Dolphins hope to trade Tagovailoa within the upcoming months. With that said, it may be tough to find a suitor who wants to take on the former first-round pick and the approximate $175 million cap hit that he carries over the next three years, especially after a tumultuous campaign in which he tallied 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

Wednesday, November 26, 1:06 PM

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said on Wednesday that quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (knee) had successful surgery on his knee on Tuesday, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Penix had full reconstructive surgery to fix a partially torn ACL in his left knee, which will keep him out for the rest of this season and possibly for the start of the 2026 season next fall. The 25-year-old second-year signal-caller is facing a nine-month recovery, which will force Atlanta to rethink its long-term plan at the QB position this offseason. This is Penix's third ACL reconstruction in his career after he had two knee surgeries in college. Kirk Cousins will start the rest of the year under center for the Falcons, but depending on how he finishes the season, the Falcons could opt out of the final two seasons of his four-year deal.