Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski criticized for Tua Tagovailoa signing.
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Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski criticized for Tua Tagovailoa signing.
The Atlanta Falcons raised many eyebrows this NFL offseason when they signed former Miami Dolphins quarterback and financial sinkhole Tua Tagovailoa. Earlier this months, Tua signed a veteran-minimum, one-year, $1.3 million contract following his release from the Dolphins.
It seemed like an odd move since it may indicate their true feelings on Michael Penix, Jr. But, they already had a veteran presence in Kirk Cousins, even if he’s old and overpriced.
According to Jason La Canfora of Sports Boom, many folks around the NFL were perplexed by the decision making of new Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski.
“Even some evaluators and coaches who hold Stefanski, a former two-time coach of the year with the Browns, in high esteemed were shocked at the haste with which the Falcons snatched up a quarterback who has fallen out of favor for his performance, medical history, leadership skills and some of the things he said as his career detailed in Miami,” La Canfora writes.
“Atlanta has several elite pieces on offense and an array of talent that could truly blossom with a quarterback who can also push the ball down the field and unlock all quadrants, but instead the Falcons quickly opted for one who gets rid of the ball too quickly, relies on short passes to a staggering degree (the kind of heavy-traffic areas around the line of scrimmage that put pass catchers at risk), and brings a quirky, shall we say, dynamic to a quarterback room that already includes former first-round pick Michael Penix, who has failed to develop as the franchise expected to this point.”
It sounds bad when you say it like that.
NFL Executives question the Atlanta Falcons signing of Tua Tagovailoa
La Canfora, as per usual, did some digging around the league and talked to some executives and personnel folks who were baffled by the Falcons’ decision (which also includes general manager Ian Cunningham. Let’s not blame everything on Stefanski).
“Kevin’s a sharp guy, but this doesn’t add up,” executive with a team in the market for quarterbacks told La Canfora.
“Seriously, I am at a loss. Would I have just kept Cousins, and I know he wants to be paid a lot more than $1M, yeah I would have. Look, you know I didn’t like Tua coming out (of college and into the NFL draft), and the last two years, man. No thanks.”
That’s not exactly high praise for Tua.
Tua Tagovailoa isn’t a fit for what the Atlanta Falcons want to do
I didn’t think you’d find many experts this offseason saying that the Falcons should just keep Cousins. He’s since been released, but after the Tua signing, it seems like most observers think they should have just kept him.
“Cousins can push the ball (downfield) and loves play action,” a general manager of a team pursuing a quarterback said. “That’s a better fit to me in this offense… We weren’t going to touch Tua. Too many red flags.”
It’s popular sentiment around the NFL. If Tua was in demand, he wouldn’t have signed for a one-year vet minimum deal. There were probably other situations that could have been better for him in terms of playing time, unless Stefanski told him it’s a true open competition with Penix (who is coming off of a knee injury).
Regardless, as we sit here right now, there are a lot of question marks down in Atlanta, but that seems to be the case every year. NFL