Falcons To Hold Open QB Competition Between Penix, Tagovailoa
The Falcons now have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to left-handed quarterbacks, and both have a decent amount of starting experience. According to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network, Atlanta will have incumbent passer Michael Penix and newcomer Tua Tagovailoa work in an open competition for the QB1 position in 2026. 
The Dolphins struggled mightily to move the contract of Tagovailoa before they ultimately had to make the decision to cut him. Per Wolfe, they tried packaging money and draft picks into trade deals just so teams might be more at ease at the aspect of taking on such a heavy contractual obligation. But considering that one team, according to Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS, claimed it would take the inclusion of a first-round pick to convince them to take on Tagovailoa’s deal, Miami had no choice in the end but to cut bait and move on to bigger fish.
The Dolphins shouldering the burden of the $54MM in guaranteed money still owed to Tagovailoa gave the 28-year-old quarterback the freedom to not worry about the financial aspect of his next contract. With guaranteed money on its way to the bank, Tagovailoa could accept a deal for the league minimum if that’s what it would take to land in the best situation for him.
Utilizing that freedom, Tagovailoa landed in Atlanta, where Wolfe reports new head coach Kevin Stefanski sold him on the idea of being in an open competition for the starting quarterback job with Penix. Luckily for Stefanski, this year’s quarterback battle should be a bit easier to handle than last year’s in Cleveland. The late-season battle between rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders posed a unique problem. Stefanski wanted each rookie to have the opportunity to make their NFL debuts in offenses designed specifically for them. Though they played in similar offensive systems in college, the two played with two different playing styles and threw the football with opposite hands.
In Atlanta, Stefanski now, at least, has his two quarterbacks throwing from the same side of their body. Both have starting experience but, for both, that experience came in a different offensive system that what Stefanski was doing in Cleveland. The change in leadership at the top of the coaching staff helped ease news of the competition to Penix. Instead of being told by a coach that had given him a starting job that he was losing it, Penix’s new head coach informed him of the team’s move to acquire Tagovailoa, per Wolfe, and told him to come ready to compete, when healthy.
Tagovailoa showed an incredibly high ceiling during his time in Miami, throwing for a league-leading 4,624 passing yards in 2023 and completing a league-high 72.9 percent of his passes in 11 games the next season, but his 2025 campaign is one he’ll surely want to forget. He’ll be ready to move on with a focus on utilizing a new group of weapons to beat out his incumbent competition and prove he can still be a starter in the NFL.
After getting slow played into a starting role in his rookie year, Penix displayed a safe but tepid offense through 11 games as a starter before tearing his ACL. The team hopes introducing Tagovailoa into the mix as competition will jumpstart their hopeful franchise quarterback into a higher gear, once he returns to full health. They expect Penix to be cleared to compete sometime in the offseason, at which point they will begin the competition to see who will be named the best left-handed quarterback in Atlanta since Michael Vick.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/11/26
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Re-signed: RB Zonovan Knight
- Signed: LS Casey Kreiter
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: C Corey Levin, LB Channing Tindall
Carolina Panthers
- Re-signed: DE Trevis Gipson, TE James Mitchell
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: TE Jack Stoll
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: LB Tyrus Wheat
Denver Broncos
- Re-signed: FB Adam Prentice
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: OLB Brenton Cox, DT Jonathan Ford
Los Angeles Chargers
- Re-signed: LS Josh Harris
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: S Zayne Anderson, TE Ben Sims
New England Patriots
- Signed: S Mike Brown, TE Julian Hill
New York Giants
- Re-signed: LB Zaire Barnes
New York Jets
- Re-signed: OT Max Mitchell
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Re-signed: OL Jack Driscoll
San Francisco 49ers
- Re-signed: RB Patrick Taylor
Seattle Seahawks
- Re-signed: LS Chris Stoll
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DE Malik Herring
Falcons Release QB Kirk Cousins
New Falcons GM Ian Cunningham recently confirmed Kirk Cousins would be released at the start of the new league year. With that checkpoint having been reached this afternoon, Cousins is indeed a free agent. 
The Pro Bowl quarterback has been cut, ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirms. Cousins’ Atlanta run ends halfway through the four-year, $160MM pact he signed in free agency. A much less lucrative deal will await this time around. This is coming through a post-June 1 designation, per a team announcement. $2.1MM in cap savings will be generated with the Falcons taking on $22.5MM in dead money charges which can be spread out over the next two years.
Atlanta is set to move forward with Michael Penix Jr. at the quarterback spot. The team has also lined up a deal with Tua Tagovailoa, and the ex-Dolphin will operate as a highly inexpensive option under center. It has long been clear Cousins, 37, would be moving on from the Falcons this offseason. His attention will now turn to free agency, although a number of QB spots have already been filled at this point.
Cousins has been mentioned as a candidate to return to Minnesota. Over six years with the Vikings, he largely delivered strong play up to the Achilles tear which ended his 2023 campaign. Kyler Murray has also been released today, however, and Minnesota is widely regarded as the top landing spot in that case.
As a result, Cousins may soon be joining a fourth career team. The former fourth-round pick is likely to line up yet another short-term deal during the latter stages of his career. Pittsburgh was recently named as a potential suitor in this case. That would make sense in the event Aaron Rodgers – whose intentions are not yet known – decides not to play in 2026. The Steelers would be left as one of the few teams without a veteran starter in that instance.
Another team to watch in this case could be the Raiders. Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports Vegas can be expected to pursue a Cousins agreement. Geno Smith has been traded to the Jets, leaving the Raiders without an experienced passer. Fernando Mendoza remains on track to be selected first overall in April’s draft. If Vegas prefers to have him sit at the start of his career, adding someone like Cousins could prove to be a prudent move.
Cousins struggled when atop the Falcons’ depth chart in 2024. He was benched in favor of Penix late that season. Cousins then won five of his eight starts during this past campaign, throwing 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. He will likely be counted on as a bridge starter once more, depending on the QB situation he enters with his next deal.
Falcons To Sign OLB Azeez Ojulari
Azeez Ojulari is headed back to Georgia. The Marietta native and former Bulldog is signing with the Falcons on a one-year deal, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Ojulari, 25, will need to rebuild his stock in Atlanta after appearing in just three games for the Eagles last season. He will add edge rushing depth behind 2025 first-rounders Jalon Walker and James Pearce, the latter of whom could be facing league discipline as a result of pending felony charges.
The 2019 Giants second-round pick flashed high-end potential as a rookie with eight sacks. Injuries became an issue moving forward, as Ojulari appeared in just 29 games over the next three seasons, though he still put up solid production with 14.0 sacks when healthy. His trade value jumped in the final year of his rookie deal with five sacks in three games right before the 2024 deadline, but no team would meet New York’s asking price.
Ojulari then landed on injured reserve for the third season in a row and took a one-year, $3MM contract with the Eagles in the offseason. Philadelphia’s outside linebacker depth kept Ojulari from earning a consistent role in Vic Fangio‘s defense. He should get more opportunities in a Falcons edge rushing room that let Arnold Ebiketie and Leonard Floyd hit free agency.
The Eagles only played Ojulari for 67 snaps in 2025, so they will not need to find a dedicated replacement. However, Jaelan Phillips‘ departure to the Panthers will leave a much bigger hole in their defense.
Falcons To Sign DL Chris Williams
The Falcons have agreed to a one-year contract with defensive lineman Chris Williams, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. It’s a $2MM deal.
Undrafted out of Wagner in 2020, Williams caught on with the Colts and spent his rookie season on their practice squad. The 298-pounder went on to play sparingly with Indianapolis from 2021-22, during which he appeared in 13 games and made six tackles.
After the Colts cut Williams in the spring of 2023, he had brief runs on practice squads in Kansas City and Cleveland. Although he did not play a snap for the Browns, they got some value from Williams in an August 2024 trade. The Browns sent Williams and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Bears for a ’25 sixth-rounder. Ian Cunningham, now the Falcons’ general manager, was the Bears’ assistant GM when they acquired Williams.
During his two-year run in Chicago, Williams played in 31 games and clearly impressed Cunningham along the way. In 2024, his lone 17-game season, Williams racked up 23 tackles, seven QB hits and three sacks on 367 defensive snaps. The 27-year-old was on the field for 14 games and 219 defensive plays last season. He finished the year with 14 tackles, two QB hits and a sack.
The Falcons’ defensive line took an obvious hit when David Onyemata left for the Jets on Monday. They have since added Williams and Cameron Thomas in low-cost moves.
NFL Restructures: Clark, Packers, Meinerz, Falcons, Saints, Eagles
As the Cowboys made another trade to acquire a higher-end Packers defender salary (Rashan Gary‘s four-year, $96MM deal), they are restructuring the one they added last summer. Dallas is reducing Kenny Clark‘s 2026 cap number with a restructure, per ESPN.com’s Todd Archer. As Connor Byrne’s Cowboys Offseason Outlook detailed, Clark was due an $11MM roster bonus Friday; Dallas is moving that into a signing bonus to open up $8.8MM in cap space. This will drop Clark’s cap number well south of its $21.5MM place, though it would create more dead money if he is not extended by the 2027 league year. An extension is on the Cowboys’ radar, even as the former first-round pick goes into an age-31 season. With Clark signed through 2027, however, it is possible this restructure will table any extension talks.
With the cap-compliance deadline less than 24 hours away, here are more restructure decisions:
- Trading Gary to the Cowboys and cutting Elgton Jenkins, the Packers are busy at work with cost-shedding moves. They also completed an Xavier McKinney restructure, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. The move will save more than $9MM in space for Green Bay. McKinney will also secure an additional $11.54MM guaranteed — on top of his $23MM guarantee from March 2024 — according to Wilson, who adds the Pack included three void years to defray the bonus money. McKinney’s cap hit is down to $9.86MM.
- The Broncos have mostly used free agency to retain their own talent thus far, but the team is adding eight figures of cap space as of Tuesday. Denver is restructuring Quinn Meinerz‘s deal, according to the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson, who notes this is a simple restructure of the All-Pro guard’s 2026 base salary. Moving it to a signing bonus, the Broncos will free up around $11MM. The Broncos sit mid-pack in cap space, holding more than $23MM.
- Troy Andersen will be part of the 2026 Falcons. At least, he will have an opportunity to contribute, with SI.com’s Garrett Chapman reporting the linebacker agreed to a restructure to avoid his contract tolling from 2025. Andersen missed all of last season, spending it on the reserve/PUP list. A player who spends the season on the PUP can see his contract toll in the final year of a deal; a knee injury sidelined the former second-round pick last season. This amounts to a de facto re-signing, since Andersen’s four-year rookie deal was set to expire Wednesday. The team confirmed the restructure, per Falcons.com’s Tori McElhaney and Will McFadden.
- One of the NFL’s long-running restructure hubs, the Saints are adding another before the league year begins. New Orleans is saving $7.36MM in cap space by restructuring Erik McCoy‘s deal, ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell tweets. One void year is being added to the center’s contract. McCoy’s deal runs through 2027; three void years are now included.
- The Jaguars completed a simple restructure of center Robert Hainsey‘s deal, according to Spotrac, with the move saving the team $4MM in cap space. Three void years are now on Hainsey’s deal, Wilson adds.
- Michael Carter II will stay with the Eagles in 2026, but it sounds like he has agreed to a pay cut. Carter’s deal is being restructured in order for the 2025 trade acquisition to remain on the roster, The Athletic’s Zach Berman tweets.
QB Kyler Murray Could Be Patient In Free Agency
MARCH 10: Murray has yet to formally be released, nor have the Cardinals publicly confirmed they will do so at this point. That should change tomorrow, but it remains to be seen how quickly Murray will act upon becoming a free agent. In any event, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network confirms (video link) the Vikings remain the “favorite” with respect to Murray’s destination at this point.
MARCH 8: Once Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray landed on injured reserve this year having only played five games, two years after being limited to only eight games, Arizona decisionmakers were forced to broach the topic of reevaluating the future of the franchise. As the season progressed without Murray, all signs started pointing to his eventual departure from Arizona. The lack of robust trade interest in Murray led to the conclusion that the team would plan to release him to free agency. 
With his likely future set to begin later this week, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Murray “could choose to be methodical in picking his destination” once free agency opens up. There are multiple free agent and draft options available to teams looking to fill out their roster at quarterback, and at some point, those team’s roster spots will be filled. There’s certainly strategy in working to lock down a spot to make sure one has a guaranteed job and contract, but there’s strategy, too, in being reactive to the moves that get made in order to ensure that one has the most information possible on a potential decision.
There will likely be teams — and there have already been a few for Murray — who will make their interest known loudly, publicly. Once the opportunity to communicate opens up, those teams could come hard and fast to display just how interested they are in a prospect. They may offer a contract big enough to convince a player to abandon his plans to look around and test the market. Then, once they’ve locked the player into a contract, the situation that was promised to that player may end up getting altered. The general idea of this would be similar to what happened with the Falcons and Kirk Cousins. Though, that wasn’t a necessarily quick courtship, Cousins signed under the impression that he was the only guy at quarterback moving forward, then the Falcons went and spent a first-round pick to draft Michael Penix.
Murray could, instead, be more patient and reactive. Once officially released from his contract in Arizona, Murray can start taking visits. We’ve known Minnesota to be an interested party as they seek competition for starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy. It was reported as recently as yesterday that the Jets were also showing interest, and Fowler mentions the Colts and Falcons as possibilities, as well, due to their current statuses with injured passers who may not be ready to start the season.
By being patient, Murray can take the time to truly consider team fit and city fit, instead of letting dollars and cents be the main factor of the decision-making process. The money is important, too, though, and seeing what other veteran free agents are signing for could help Murray leverage a better free agent deal for himself instead of being the one who acts first and sets the market. He also has a bit of freedom in what kind of contracts he can ask for, given he’s still due to receive a good amount from guarantees in his contract from Arizona. He’ll be able to see which teams really want him and which just really need a body to fill the room. Perhaps he’ll be open to joining the Vikings, Colts, or Falcons, who have talented rosters but eventual competition at quarterback, or perhaps he’ll desire a job with a team that needs more work as long as it provides him a secure starting opportunity.
Free agency could go in a lot of different directions once it really opens up this week. It will be interesting to see how quickly Kyler moves in his first bout with free agency. He may subject himself to a bidding war and go with the highest bidder early, or he may be slower and more deliberate in his approach to finding a new home.
TE Hayden Hurst Retires
Hayden Hurst will not be among the players lining up free agent deals this week. The veteran tight end will instead begin his post-playing career. 
Hurst announced his retirement on Tuesday. He did not see any game time in 2025, and instead of spending another offseason in search of a new contract the former first-rounder will hang up his cleats. Today’s news brings an end to a seven-year NFL career.
“It is a blessing how far sports have taken me in this life,” Hurst’s retirement message reads in part. “I was determined to make football work after baseball failed me, and I never let anyone tell me I couldn’t do anything… I fought daily to be the best version of myself that I could, and I hope it showed on the field with the passion 1 played with every snap and every game. To all the fans in the cities I played in, thank you for supporting me along the way, and I hope I represented your hometown well.”
Hurst certainly had an unorthodox path to professional football. A 2012 draftee of the Pittsburgh Pirates, he wound up making only one start as pitcher in the minor leagues. With his baseball journey coming to an abrupt end, Hurst turned his attention to football and enjoyed a productive three-year tenure at South Carolina.
Hurst was selected with the 25th overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, and he spent his first two seasons with the Ravens. Baltimore added Mark Andrews in the same draft, however, and the team committed to him as its top option at the tight end position. Hurst was traded to the Falcons, although he also dealt with the problem of being buried on the depth chart behind Kyle Pitts in Atlanta for one year.
During his first trip to free agency, Hurst signed a one-year deal with the Bengals. He was able to deliver strong production as a secondary option in Cincinnati’s passing game, something which resulted in a three-year Panthers contract. Hurst was limited to nine games in 2023, however, and his Carolina tenure was cut short after only one season. He spent 2024 with the Chargers, playing sparingly.
Hurst’s retirement announcement noted this news is probably one year too late, but in any case he can now turn his attention elsewhere at the age of 32. In all, Hurst played 93 combined regular and postseason games and amassed roughly $28.5MM in career earnings.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/26
Here are today’s tender decisions:
RFAs
Tendered:
- Vikings: LB Ivan Pace
Non-tendered:
- Cowboys: S Juanyeh Thomas
- Ravens: RB Keaton Mitchell
- Titans: CB Darrell Baker Jr.
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Falcons: DL Elijah Garcia
- Patriots: FB/TE Jack Westover
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/9/26
Here are the minor move from a frenzied free agency first day:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: CB Natrone Brooks, LB Christian Harris, DE Cameron Thomas
Buffalo Bills
- Re-signed: P Mitch Wishnowsky
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: CB Akayleb Evans, CB Robert Rochell
Houston Texans
- Signed: DE Dominique Robinson
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Re-signed: OLB Dennis Gardeck
- Released: TE Johnny Mundt
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed to two-year deal: K Matt Gay
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: LS Joe Cardona
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: TE Greg Dulcich
New York Giants
- Signed: TE Chris Manhertz
New York Jets
- Signed: FB Andrew Beck
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DL Esezi Otomewo