PHOENIX — The Atlanta Falcons don’t have to build two separate offenses. But they do have to build an offensive plan large enough to encompass the divergent strengths of the two players who could be running it, coach Kevin Stefanski believes.
That’s about the only definitive answer about the Falcons’ quarterback situation from the NFL’s annual meeting at the Arizona Biltmore this week.
“I think it’s our job as a coaching staff to play to the strengths of our players,” Stefanski said, “and obviously with the quarterback position, it’s really important that you streamline what you do to what fits their mind’s eye. There are concepts that I know and I think are really good concepts, and if the quarterback doesn’t like it, we don’t run it. If there’s stuff that they feel really comfortable with, we’ll lean into those. You want to have enough depth in your system where it’s not like you’re running two different offenses for two different guys, you’re just leaning into different things.”
Which way Atlanta leans will be determined by whether Michael Penix Jr. or Tua Tagovailoa ultimately wins the starting job — or maybe simply by which one has the starting job from week to week. On that question, Falcons fans shouldn’t expect an answer for at least five months.
Stefanski and general manager Ian Cunningham insisted again on Monday, as they met with media, that Penix and Tagovailoa are competing for the job, and Stefanski acknowledged that the knee injury that ended Penix’s 2025 season in Week 11 makes the timeline for that competition impossible to predict.
“I can’t tell you exactly what it will look like as Michael gets healthy,” Stefanski said, “but the quarterback position, like all of our other positions, will be a competition, yes.”
The Falcons don’t know if Penix will be healthy enough to play in Week 1 this fall, the coach said.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say,” he said. “His No. 1 job right now is to get healthy, and he’s doing a great job at it. He’s in the building all the time, but we’re not going to rush him. … When he’s ready, he’ll be ready.”
If and when Penix is in the lineup, the Falcons will have a quarterback who has excelled at throwing the ball down the field and outside the numbers. With Tagovailoa, they’ll have a quarterback who focuses on throwing underneath and over the middle. Stefanski, though, doesn’t believe either player has to be pigeonholed.
“I think both players are perfectly capable of pushing the ball to all areas of the field,” he said. “It’ll just be dependent on what we’re trying to do.”
Falcons president of football Matt Ryan, who is not holding a formal interview session with local media at this week’s event, told Sirius XM radio on Monday that he doesn’t think the organization has any less commitment to Penix because the coach and GM who drafted Penix have been fired. Penix was drafted eighth in 2024, while Tagovailoa was added this offseason on a one-year, $1.2 million deal.
James Pearce Jr. in limbo?
The only update on the status of edge rusher James Pearce Jr. is that the Falcons remain fully committed to giving no updates.
Pearce faces three felony charges in Florida after a February incident involving his ex-girlfriend, WNBA player Rickea Jackson. In a petition for protection, Jackson claimed that Pearce physically abused her and that she was worried he would kill her.
When asked if Pearce will report for the first day of the spring program with the rest of the team on April 7, both Stefanski and Cunningham sidestepped quickly.
“As you know, I’m not going to comment on that other than to say we’re working through it,” Stefanski said.
“It’s an ongoing legal matter,” Cunningham said. “I’m just not gonna touch on that right now.”
Pearce finished third in the league in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting after leading the Falcons and all rookies with 10.5 sacks last year.
Countdown to a Drake London deal
A contract extension for wide receiver Drake London “is on top of mind,” Cunningham said Monday. London is set to play this year on his fifth-year option and make $16.8 million.
“We’re finishing up this wave of free agency. We’ve got the draft coming, but don’t think for one second that that hasn’t been thought of,” Cunningham said.
London is 15th in the league in receiving yards (3,961) since being drafted eighth in 2022. In the last two seasons, he is ninth in receiving yards per game (75.5), according to TruMedia.
Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s recent deal made him the highest-paid wide receiver in the league at $42.2 million per year. The Falcons would have to pay London more than $30 million to get him into the top 10 of wide receiver salaries.
“We don’t want outside factors to push us into feeling like we have to make a decision right now,” Cunningham said. “We know what that could potentially do, but we try to take it case by case.”
Keep an eye on Kyle Pitts
Cunningham did not rule out the possibility of trading tight end Kyle Pitts, who is set to play for the Falcons in 2026 under the franchise tag.
“It’s my job as the general manager to do what’s best for the organization,” he said. “Kyle is a great player. We’ve seen his skill set. Also, it’s my job to listen. We’re excited to have Kyle. We’re excited for his future.”
Pitts, who will make $15 million this season, had 928 receiving yards and a career-best five touchdowns in 2025. If he remains on the roster, Stefanski will explore using multiple tight end sets with Pitts, Austin Hooper and Charlie Woerner all on the field at the same time.
“We certainly want to be a team that goes in and out of different personnel groupings,” Stefanski said. “The spring and summer will allow us to see what our best group is and what we want to lean into.”
Hard lessons learned
Stefanski started three different quarterbacks in Cleveland last season and is hopeful the hard lessons of that will help him navigate this competition. Two of those Browns — Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel — were rookies.
“It’s a hard job. As we have seen across the league, the structure around the players is so important,” he said. “Young quarterbacks are generally going to struggle, even the great ones. Understanding that you are going to have to weather some storms is just the nature of that position.”
Change of scenery
No quarterback in the NFL with more than 250 attempts has thrown fewer passes from under center in the last two years than Penix. His total is six. Penix also has been aligned under center less than any quarterback in that span (5.9 percent of his snaps).
It sounds like that is going to change.
“He’s comfortable doing it,” Stefanski insisted Monday.
The Falcons plan to get Penix plenty of work under center as soon as he’s healthy, the coach said. Stefanski’s Browns quarterbacks were under center at the seventh-highest rate in the league during his six years in Cleveland (39.5 percent), according to TruMedia.
“A good offense has to be able to weave in and out of all of those,” he said. “It’s going to be so dependent on what we’re trying to accomplish on every single play.”
The second-chance club
Both Stefanski and Tagovailoa were essentially fired from their last jobs, and the experience should encourage some kinship in Atlanta, the coach said.
“It motivates you, you want to be better,” Stefanski said. “You go through some interesting moments in this league, and the fun part is to see how you respond to those things. This is a new opportunity for me and a new opportunity for Tua. You get to put your best foot forward.”
Tagovailoa spent the last six seasons in Miami, where he won 44 of his 76 starts but battled injuries and ineffectiveness the last two seasons.
“He’s looking for an opportunity, and we can provide that opportunity,” Stefanski said. “I think it’s a fit in a bunch of different ways.”
It’s Bill Callahan’s run game
The Falcons don’t have a run-game coordinator, but offensive-line coach Bill Callahan “will be at the forefront” of building the rushing plan, Stefanski said. Callahan, 69, has made stops at seven NFL teams before joining Atlanta, including Cleveland, where he worked under Stefanski from 2020 to 2023.
“Bill is an excellent developer of talent,” Stefanski said. “I think he sees the game really well. He’s excellent at putting run plans together. He’s done it at a high level for a long time.”