The Atlanta Falcons, fresh off a defeat against the Chicago Bears, are signing veteran quarterback Andy Dalton. In a corresponding move, they severed ties with fellow redhead quarterback Cooper Rush.
To say this is a bit of a curious move would be an understatement, considering Dalton will open as the third quarterback on the roster. Whether it’s the Falcons covering for Michael Penix Jr. getting banged up repeatedly and not wanting to risk Rush coming back into a game in the event of a rash of injuries that takes out Penix and backup Tua Tagovailoa, or whether they view Dalton as a possible QB2 over Tua remains to be seen. Regardless, Dalton is at least a slam dunk upgrade over what the team had with Rush.
It was recently reported that Dalton turned down an offer to return to the Eagles, where he was Jalen Hurts’ backup until he threw an interception on his only pass attempt in Week 3 against the Bears; the Eagles released him on October 9. With Hurts on injured reserve and Tanner McKee, Cole Payton and Joe Milton being the only quarterbacks in the mix, Philadelphia wanted him back, but he refused to return.
The path to playing time appears to be much clearer in Philadelphia, which makes this interesting. You would think that for Dalton to sign he would have to have a legitimate chance to compete with Tua in supporting Penix, and that’s my operating assumption until I hear otherwise.
Dalton has appeared in 180 games in his career with 139 starts, with his last more-or-less full-time role coming in 2022 for the Saints. Originally a second-round pick of the Bengals in 2011, Dalton finished his career second in passing yards and first in touchdowns in Cincinnati history. He has 254 career touchdown passes and 152 interceptions in his age-39 season and has generally been a solid backup at worst for the teams he has played for, with a 66% completion percentage and 10 touchdowns against 7 interceptions during his last extended reserve stint with the Panthers from 2023 to 2025. It goes without saying that while his signing adds some intrigue to the backup competition here in Atlanta, I hope Penix is both healthy and effective enough that we never see it in 2026.
Give Dalton a warm welcome and we’ll see if he can overtake Tua for backup duties in the coming weeks.
Gn sports
