What Andy Dalton signing means for the Falcons' QB situation

The Atlanta Falcons made a surprise quarterback move on Monday, signing long-time NFL veteran Andy Dalton to round out their QB room. Word on the street is that the injury-ravaged Philadelphia Eagles also wanted to sign Dalton, but he apparently told them to go preen themselves.

Dalton choosing the Falcons is about more than just taking a team that still has a chance to compete in the NFC because they haven't been totally devastated by injuries. It says a lot about Atlanta's current quarterback situation, as well.

To make room for Dalton on the 53-man roster, the Falcons released veteran QB Cooper Rush, who completely bombed the first two games of the season as Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa were unavailable.

Releasing Rush was an obvious move, but the fact that the Falcons are still carrying four quarterbacks on their active roster speaks to the lack of stability for that unit, especially their primary backup, Tagovailoa.

It's virtually impossible for Atlanta's investment in Tua to go bad - as they signed him for the veteran minimum this year while Miami pays him a boatload of money after buying out his contract.

The fact that they signed the 38-year old Dalton says more about Tagovailoa than anybody else on the roster.

While his time in a Falcons uniform has been a very small sample size, Tua has proven to be very disappointing. During his brief run in the preseason he refused to throw the ball any further than five yards down the field, and when he was tasked with replacing Penix in overtime in Week 5 he promptly threw an ugly interception to end the game. On film it looks an awful lot like Tagovailoa is afraid of taking any kind of contact.

The hard truth is that if Atlanta's front office had any confidence at all in Tua as their QB2, they wouldn't have signed Dalton at this point - especially given the atrocious last start that Dalton put on film in 2025 for Carolina against Buffalo.

Hopefully we never have to see Dalton play in a live game for the Falcons - and Penix recovers fully from his rib injury. Nobody else on this team has even a remote chance of establishing themselves as a franchise quarterback.