Last month, new Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski said he wouldn’t name a starting quarterback, or a starter at any other position, in February. It’s now March, and the Falcons have a new quarterback, but the message is the same, general manager Ian Cunningham said.

Tua Tagovailoa, who officially signed his free-agent deal with the team, will have a chance to compete with incumbent Michael Penix Jr. for the starting job, Cunningham said Friday.

“Tua knows he’s coming in to compete just like Michael knows that he’s coming in to compete,” Cunningham said. “Everybody, not just those two, is coming in to compete. There are no starters right now. We are excited to have Tua, but we’re excited to have all the players we were able to get (during free agency).”

Tagovailoa, 28, signed a one-year deal that is expected to pay him $1.2 million for the season. He can play on the league minimum salary for a player with six years of experience because his previous team, the Miami Dolphins, will be paying more than $50 million of his 2026 salary. The Dolphins accrued a dead cap hit of more than $99 million by releasing Tagovailoa with three years left on a four-year extension he signed in 2024.

Tagovailoa signed his deal in Atlanta after completing a physical with the team. He has missed eight games in the last four seasons due to concussions and has had four documented concussions, one at the University of Alabama and three in the NFL.

The No. 5 pick in the 2020 draft, Tagovailoa has spent all six years of his pro career with the Dolphins, where he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2023 after throwing for a career-high 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns. That prompted Miami to sign him to a massive four-year extension, but his play dipped in the last two seasons.

“Based off of what happened last year, I knew I needed to play better, but I think this is a great opportunity to be able to come here and get a good reset,” Tagovailoa told AtlantaFalcons.com. “If there’s no competition, I don’t think anyone’s getting better. … I am excited to compete against (Penix), to compete with him, to get to know my teammates on a personal level.

“We have a lot of good football players on this team,” he continued, “so I’m excited to get to play with these guys and get the chance to throw the ball around, conversate with them. I think it’s going to be great.”

Last year, he was 30th in the league in EPA per dropback (minus-0.1), 25th in passer rating (88.5) and 21st in off-target rate (10.4 percent) and was benched for the final three games after throwing a career-worst 15 interceptions. Over his career, he is 44-32 as a starter, 15th in passer rating (96.4), 17th in EPA per dropback (0.09) and 20th in off-target rate (10.2 percent).

“He’s a great guy,” said punter Jake Bailey, who played in Miami the last three seasons and signed with Atlanta on Friday. “He’s an impressive football player, and I’m excited to see what his future holds.”

Penix, 25, is 4-8 as a starter in his two years in the league and is 34th in passer rating (85.8), 24th in EPA per dropback (0.03) and 42nd in off-target rate (13.9 percent) in that time. Stefanski said at the NFL combine that he is excited about Penix’s “trajectory.”

Stefanski informed Penix about the Falcons’ plan to pursue Tagovailoa, and Cunningham spoke with Penix’s agent about the decision before the deal was announced, Cunningham said. Penix, the No. 8 pick in the 2024 draft, is entering the third year of his four-year rookie contract. He suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 11 last year.

“You don’t want to blindside somebody,” Cunningham said. “That’s just how we operate. We want to have open conversations and communication, and I feel like we did that with Michael and Tua. … I feel like Mike is going to come in here and compete just like he always does.”

Tagovailoa is one of 12 new players Atlanta added during the first week of free agency.

“We really went into this free agency looking to elevate our floor, adding depth pieces, but also players who have starting experience and have shown that they are able to start in this league,” Cunningham said.