After six seasons with the Miami Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoa will now visit Hard Rock Stadium as the quarterback of the opposing team.
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski announced that Tagovailoa will start the third preseason game for the Falcons. However, Stefanski has yet to reveal which quarterback will start for the Falcons in Week 1 of the regular season.
While Miami Dolphins fans debate whether to boo their former quarterback or not in his return, Tagovailoa will have his eyes set on performing well and securing his place as the team’s starter. If that does not happen, one NFL analyst suggested that he may be on the move.
Former Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa May Be on the Move
-Tua -Gabriel -McCarthy -Richardson
All have had calls placed on them to varying degrees of interest.
NFL insider Benjamin Allbright posted on X: “Could see multiple QBs on the move in the next few weeks.
-Tua
-Gabriel
-McCarthy
-Richardson
All have had calls placed on them to varying degrees of interest.”
Among those players, only former Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is still in the running to be named the starter for his team. Additionally, he’s the only one out of that group to have had sustained success as a starting quarterback in the NFL.
Unfortunately for Tagovailoa, he has not had the training camp he desired. Despite Michael Penix Jr. being absent for most of training camp, Tagovailoa has not done enough to cement his place as the team’s starter. And with Penix Jr. returning to practice and likely being available for the regular season, Tagovailoa may be on the move once again this offseason.
Perhaps worst of all for Tagovailoa, Allbright added that the interest from other teams was for these quarterbacks to be backups.
After leading the NFL in passing yards during the 2023 season, Tagovailoa’s career has gone downhill quickly. He struggled to stay healthy in the 2024 season after signing a large contract extension, and missed crucial games down the stretch as Miami was in a playoff race. Meanwhile, he took another step backward in 2025 as he was among the league leaders in interceptions before getting benched in favor of seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers.
Tua Tagovailoa’s Return to Miami
While Tagovailoa is not returning to Miami to play a regular season game, rarely does a preseason game have as many implications as Friday’s game has.
Regarding Tagovailoa’s return, SBNation’s Kevin Nogle wrote for the Phinsider: “Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Miami’s 2020 first-round pick, was released this offseason and now returns as the Falcons’ signal caller.
Tagovailoa is expected to start in Friday’s game for Atlanta. He will be the first “franchise” quarterback for the Dolphins to return to South Florida with another team – Bob Griese and Dan Marino never left Miami and Ryan Tannehill never faced the Dolphins in Miami after he moved to the Tennessee Titans.”
Tagovailoa left the Dolphins with the fourth-most passing yards and the fourth-most passing touchdowns in franchise history. He is one of only three Dolphins quarterbacks to earn a Pro Bowl selection during his tenure with the team. However, Tagovailoa was unable to end Miami’s playoff win drought that dates back to the 2000 season.
Tua Tagovailoa Given Stern Warning Before Dolphins Game