- 2 days ago
The question about what the Falcons will do until Michael Penix Jr. is healthy has seemingly been answered. Tua Tagovailoa has agreed to terms with Atlanta. What's next for the team's QB room? Dukes & Bell discuss.
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00:00A developing story, as my compadre Carl Dukes would like to say.
00:04We will table a hard-hitting guy talk for a moment.
00:08The news now, Adam Schefter reporting that the Falcons will sign Tua Tungavailoa to a one-year contract, Carl.
00:14Duh!
00:16Look, here's where I'm at on this.
00:19I hope he, look, from a Falcon fan standpoint, I want to win.
00:23And I hope he comes in and can help us do that.
00:26My concerns do not change.
00:28My reservations about signing him do not change.
00:32But if this is where Matt and Ian want to go, because, and understand why,
00:38because Michael Pinnix may or may not be ready at the start of the season,
00:41we need to have somebody that is.
00:44This beats the alternative of going with an old guy.
00:48But there are still health and safety concerns with Tua Tungavailoa that you have to be real with.
00:55And the fact that it's a one-year deal, great.
00:57I know many of you will be like, okay, look, he's just going to come in here,
01:01and this is just in case, Mike, you know, break glass just in case.
01:04This is not, in my opinion, a long-term solution, but it might be.
01:09Because if he comes in here and balls out, Mike, and all of a sudden looks like a different guy
01:12with Bijan in the backfield, and he's connecting with Drake,
01:15and all of a sudden, you know, Jihad Dotson looks like a star,
01:18what does that say about Tua?
01:20So I necessarily, and again, the smallness of Tua, I'm not a big fan of that.
01:25At quarterback, that's just where I'm at.
01:27But the bottom line is, remember, the Dolphins gave him the bag to be the franchise guy,
01:32and he didn't live up to it.
01:34So this is his second chance.
01:36But if you're asking me right now, like, was this the guy I was going to go with?
01:39I said at the beginning of the day today, no.
01:41But the Falcons have made that decision to do it.
01:43Well, the good news is he's cheap.
01:45He's very inexpensive.
01:46He's going to play somewhere between $1.3 and $2 million to pay him.
01:49Because he's on the league minimum because the Dolphins.
01:51Yeah, because he's sitting on a pile of money.
01:52He's on the hook, but they're on the hook for his salary.
01:54All I'm saying is, guys, two ways of looking at this.
01:57You know, we could have had Joe.
01:57Would you be more excited if we were talking about Joe Flacco or Tua Tungabailoa?
02:01Because I was thinking, I was of the opinion it was going to be Joe Flacco.
02:05He'd start for four or five weeks, and then Panics Union will start.
02:07Two things.
02:08You could have an open competition if Panics is, A, healthy enough.
02:10We don't know that.
02:11And, Mike, can I raise my hand?
02:12I'd be okay with that.
02:13Right.
02:13I hope you guys are okay with that.
02:15That's not me not wanting to see Michael Panics successful.
02:19But wouldn't you feel better if there wasn't a competition?
02:22And it didn't matter, Mike, who they were going to bring in.
02:24I wanted this to happen regardless.
02:26If he's healthy, to your point, I would love to see that.
02:28But I don't know if that's going to be this.
02:29Right.
02:29Now, again, we've got two left-handed quarterbacks who can't stay healthy.
02:32Basically, badly for the starting quarterback job.
02:34But the other way of looking at this, and I don't think the Falcons are going to cop to this
02:38because I don't think, as you said, Stefanski wants to come in here and have another losing season.
02:41But they may have a different visualization of what this season is going to look like.
02:45You know?
02:45And the best quarterbacks and maybe the future of this franchise is playing college football in 2026.
02:50And he'd be available in the 2027 draft.
02:52Just thinking out loud.
02:53Just real quick.
02:54He had Jalen Waddell.
02:56He had Tariq Hill.
02:57He had A-Chain.
02:57He's a 1,300-yard rusher.
02:59He had an offensive genius who's no longer there as a head coach.
03:02Dudes!
03:02I mean, everything was in place for Tua.
03:04And they bet on the come despite the concussion situation.
03:07He's missed a ton of games, as you guys know.
03:09I get it.
03:10He is always one hit away.
03:11From his career being over.
03:13But I still think for all the options, Kyler Murray would have been my No. 1.
03:17Flacco, too.
03:18And then this would have been my third.
03:19So we'll see.
03:20But it does certainly not exactly get the fan base fired up.
03:23We did a poll question.
03:24It's active right now at Dukes and Bell 929.
03:26You guys can check it out.
03:27Right now, roughly 60% of our audience say no.
03:3059% say no.
03:3141% say yes.
03:32You can vote at Dukes and Bell 929.
03:34Because I think those folks have the same fears and concerns that I do.
03:38I mean, look, and again, if he comes in and helps us, Mike, and when I say that, understand, if
03:43Pennix is not ready and we start the season 3-1 and Tua is the leader of that 3-1
03:47start, give us a chance.
03:50Let's not start the season behind the 8-ball because we didn't go out and sign a guy that was
03:54capable.
03:55So I respect Coach Stefanski and Matt and Ian Cunningham, our general manager, Mike, for at least saying, hey, we
04:02are not going to start the season with somebody who can't take snaps under center.
04:06We at least have that.
04:07Okay, great.
04:08From that perspective, I totally get it.
04:11But I just, I'm not sold on Tua.
04:13Guys, I've said this.
04:14He's not an elite guy.
04:15He's not.
04:16He's a guy.
04:17That's what he's been.
04:18He got benched late at the end of the season.
04:20They fired the general manager.
04:22Eventually, the coach got got.
04:23But he did have a pretty good day against us.
04:25Oh, don't remind me.
04:27The Sunday before Halloween, he only threw for 205 yards.
04:30But again, he's always efficient.
04:32Four touchdowns, 20 of 26.
04:33He's always around 68% completions.
04:36He's got 2-1 touchdowns to fix in his career.
04:38But as we said, he doesn't run, guys.
04:40If you're looking for rushing, that's not what he does.
04:42Okay?
04:43That's not in his bag.
04:44Get down.
04:45Yeah.
04:45Exactly.
04:46I mean, like Tom Brady, your footprint, sit down.
04:49Just sit Indian style, okay?
04:50Someone will just tap you on the shoulder.
04:52But it will be, it's going to be interesting to see what is the plan.
04:57You know, the plan right now is to survive the 20, it sounds to me like the plan is to
05:01survive the 26th season, you know, from the quarterback standpoint.
05:04I'm not trying to be melodramatic.
05:05No, not at all.
05:06Because, you know, here's the thing.
05:07If Tua comes in and stinks it up, okay, then Pennix Jr., you will have your shot.
05:11How do you think this makes Pennix Jr. feel right now?
05:13Would he be upset with, no matter who, there was always going to be a gap quarterback.
05:17Yes, there was.
05:18But this guy's got a better chance of winning this job.
05:19No, he does.
05:21Look, I think hopefully it elevates Michael Pennix.
05:23And what I mean by that is, Mike, I'm not saying he hadn't taken everything seriously,
05:29because when he got drafted, if you go back to draft night, he thought he was going to
05:33have to wait three years before he got a chance to start.
05:36And it didn't play out that way.
05:38And now he may be fighting for his job, potentially, depending on how this shakes out.
05:43And, you know, for me, I just look at Tua last year.
05:46I'm not going to look at his entire career.
05:48But in games where they needed him to be great, where he needed to throw the ball,
05:52Mike, over 30 times, L, L, L, New England, Buffalo, Indy.
05:58Like, these are the things.
05:59That's what stands out to me.
06:01So when you talk about him being efficient, yeah, if you're going to say, we're going to
06:04go on every game and he's only going to throw it 24 times, great.
06:06But this is the NFL.
06:07There will be games if he plays and if he starts, however this is going to play out.
06:11Again, and I don't want to jump the gun there.
06:13You are doing, kudos to the Falcons front office for this.
06:17You are backing up your situation that you needed to back up.
06:20You knew you needed to address this.
06:22You weren't going to go draft a quarterback.
06:24Okay, great.
06:25I've said, Mike, I didn't feel like this was going to be a great free agent quarterback
06:28class.
06:28We knew Tua was going to get cut and it was a possibility.
06:31I just don't like the idea of him being the guy that we're selecting.
06:35But it does, to your point, it's a better situation than the other situation.
06:41Was bringing in an old guy and knowing there was no chance that he was going to
06:44really ever hold the job or ever compete for the starting spot.
06:48In case you guys are wondering, he still has not signed as far as we can tell, but
06:51he's still linked to Kyler Murray, who we discussed at length last week.
06:55Kyler Murray's still linked to Minnesota.
06:56Yeah, because, yes, no deal in place.
06:58Right, not yet.
06:59Owl hits us up on Twitter.
07:01Even if you hate Tua, I'm not sure how you could hate this sign.
07:04If he's cheaper than a Flacco would be at this market, all upside, no downside.
07:07Real competition in camp.
07:08If Panics can't go at the start of the year, you have a guy trying to rehab his value.
07:12Solid signing.
07:13So even, you know, again, the odds of Tua having more success here, with the exception
07:19of Bijan, I mean, Waddle, and before he got flaked out, Tyreek gets a better wide receiver
07:24core than we have here.
07:25Yes.
07:25We're betting on the come with Pitts.
07:27Drake, now here's the thing.
07:28Is Drake going to be in his bag if he didn't have his contract by Labor Day?
07:31We just saw, you know, Pierce, Alec Pierce just get a crazy deal up in Indianapolis.
07:36That'll work itself out.
07:37But as far as the quarterback, you've got two left-handers, two guys who really can't
07:41stay healthy.
07:42But I agree with what Al will lay out there.
07:44It's dirt cheap.
07:45It's less than $2 million.
07:46We won't get the contract details coming up.
07:48All right.
07:49We're going to open up the phone lines here at 5 o'clock for you to chime in.
07:52404-726-0929.
07:54New quarterback in town.
07:56And when you ask me about how Panics should feel, I want him, I hope he feels like this
08:00is going to motivate him even more, Mike, to elevate and show everybody that the decision
08:05to draft him when they did and that he can be the future franchise quarterback, first he's
08:09got to be healthy, but do the job and do it at a high level.
08:12And here's the beauty of this.
08:14And this is why I do want a competition.
08:16I don't want Falcon fans wondering and doubting if they didn't do this.
08:21Right.
08:21That, well, they just gave Panics a job and he still wasn't ready and he still wasn't
08:25this, that, and the other.
08:26This will be a true evaluation because, again, there is no loyalty.
08:31No.
08:32This organization, the team drafted him, but this front office did not draft Michael
08:36Penix Jr.
08:37As I said to you last hour, I mean, Matt Ryan and Ian Cunningham, they're never going
08:42to say, you know, yeah, in all honesty, we wouldn't have drafted this guy.
08:45The injury concerns are just too scary.
08:47But they might not have the same kind of, to your point, that same investment because
08:51they didn't sign him.
08:51You see it all the time.
08:52When a coach, when a new general manager takes over and the coach wasn't hired by him, you
08:56know you're on thin ice.
08:57So, look, I'll go back to what I said initially.
08:59I think our best quarterback is probably playing college right now for this organization.
09:03Mike, you might be right.
09:05Next year's draft is deep.
09:06Here's what's crazy.
09:08Can we keep it 100?
09:10Tua was taking fifth overall in his draft.
09:13Michael Penix was taking eighth in his draft overall.
09:15And you don't necessarily believe in either one of them.
09:18We have two top 10 picks that are about to be in our quarterback room and going into
09:23camp, going into what this offseason is going to be, okay?
09:27You don't necessarily believe in either one of them right now.
09:29That's keeping it 100 with you.
09:31That's where we are.
09:32It is this coaching staff's job.
09:33Now the front office has done this, Mike.
09:35The coaching staff needs to coach these guys up and needs to show Falcon fans, hey, regardless
09:41if it's Tua or if it's going to be Michael Penix, regardless, these guys will be ready
09:46to show you what we've got.
09:48And this offense is going to be a lot more dynamic.
09:49Last year, guys, on the injury report in October with a hip and a left thumb, he got
09:53benched.
09:54After he beat us up in Atlanta, he got benched the next week.
09:56Remember, the Ravens smoked him.
09:5831-6.
09:59He had three interceptions, fumbled three times, and then later in the year, the final
10:03three games, he got benched.
10:04Injury history, inconsistency, the concussion stuff was more certainly germane in 2024.
10:10That's when they had to shut him down, but that's where you're going.
10:14So you needed a quarterback.
10:15Would you feel any better if this was Kyler Murray?
10:17If we had gotten in the middle?
10:18See, Kyler Murray's more expensive.
10:19He is, but he's better.
10:21I think he's a better...
10:23Look, and I say that...
10:24Everybody came with their own headaches.
10:25That's right.
10:26There you go.
10:26There are warts with all these guys, but I think Kyler's probably just a better quarterback.
10:32But to your point, what headache do you want to deal with?
10:34Here's what we do know about Tua.
10:36He's not a troublemaker.
10:37He's not going to cause you any issues, Mike.
10:39He does what he needs to do.
10:41Is he the kind of leader that you wanted him to be?
10:44Well, he got his chance with the Dolphins to do that, Mike, and be an elite-type quarterback
10:50and maybe lead that franchise to another level.
10:53He wasn't able to do that.
10:54And to your point about all the weapons they had on offense, you cannot look at the Dolphins.
10:58By the way, Dolphins also led the league in rushing two years ago.
11:02They changed.
11:02Yeah.
11:02They were a running football team.
11:05It wasn't as if this was all on Tua's shoulders.
11:07So if you weren't able to do it there and you go, all right, well, he's going to revive himself
11:11and come here.
11:12Hopefully, he does for the sake of us because I'm tired of losing.
11:16But, man, there's a lot to prove here.
11:19We were under the impression, you know, once you get into the meat of the NFL season, how
11:23does Michael Penix Jr. practice?
11:25How does he get the reps in there where he can actually battle and win the starting job?
11:28Because you usually think the starting job is going to be won in camp, right?
11:31Yes.
11:32But you could argue, just for argument's sake, because some people are losing their minds
11:35on social media.
11:35I just saw Chris Turtle.
11:36Turtle just go, I hate this move.
11:38So Turtle will be talking about it.
11:39Join me.
11:40Join me.
11:40But it's cheap.
11:42He'll have an opportunity.
11:43And if he does what you'd expect him to do, which is nothing, then Michael Penix Jr.
11:46will finish out the season and hopefully get back to being what we thought he was in the
11:49first place.
11:51So it's cheaper than Flacco.
11:53It might.
11:54And by the way, their intention, because we don't owe Tua anything other than what he's going
11:57to get paid here, which is peanuts based on NFL salaries.
12:00We can go to Penix when he's ready.
12:02So now you've got maybe a little more, I mean, a little more juice from some of the
12:06fan base than you would have gotten if Joe Flacco was under center to start week one.
12:09You know, I'm more excited.
12:11I mean, I know you're not exactly.
12:14I'm just hesitant, man.
12:16I'd rather see Tua Tungabailoa than Joe Flacco as my gap quarterback for the first month
12:20of the season.
12:21And we don't even know what it's going to be.
12:24No, I have no idea.
12:25But for a guy that now has been in the league seven years, and I asked you this earlier,
12:29if I said to you, what is Tua Tungabailoa?
12:31What's your answer?
12:33Meh.
12:354047-260-929.
12:37Let's talk to Mr. Jones.
12:39I know Mike's got some stories we're going to get to, but this is breaking news.
12:42We will roll guy talk into tomorrow, my brother.
12:45This is breaking news.
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