Let’s take a look at the fantasy football implications of the Atlanta Falcons signing free agent quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
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Fantasy Football Impact | Falcons Sign Tua Tagovailoa
Tua Tagovailoa lands with the Atlanta Falcons on a one-year deal to compete with Michael Penix Jr. Yes, Tagovailoa could easily be the backup in Atlanta, but with a new coaching staff that has no previous ties to Penix and the fact that he tore his ACL in Week 11, Tagovailoa could easily be the Week 1 starter. If Tagovailoa plays well, I could easily see him holding onto the job for the 2026 season (and moving forward).
Tagovailoa’s fantasy value cratered last year as he was benched and finished as the QB28 in fantasy points per game. Among 38 qualifying passers, he ranked 23rd in yards per attempt, 35th in aDOT, 31st in hero throw rate, and he had the second-highest turnover-worthy throw rate (per Fantasy Points Data). We are only one season removed from when Tagovailoa was 18th in yards per attempt and 16th in turnover-worthy throw rate. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tagovailoa bounce back, if only mildly, and play well enough to keep Penix on the sideline. Another feather in Tagovailoa’s cap is the fact that Atlanta plays in a dome. Across his career, Tagovailoa has a 102.4 passer rating and 8.06 yards per attempt when playing in a dome versus a 96.2 passer rating and 7.53 yards per attempt outdoors.
If Tagovailoa does hold the starting job all year in 2026, he’s still likely only a streaming option and a forgettable QB2 in fantasy with zero rushing equity. In dynasty, if you can get a bag of peanuts or a sandwich back in a trade for him or Penix, I’d do it.
More 2026 NFL Free Agency Moves & Fantasy Impact
You can find all of our 2026 NFL Free Agency Moves & Fantasy Football Impact. And check out our coverage on other notable names below, along with links to the articles which include full analysis.
Alec Pierce was one of the most coveted free-agent receivers on the market, and the Colts decided that they couldn’t let Pierce get away.
The Colts are re-signing Pierce to a four-year deal worth a reported $116 million, as first reported by the Pat McAfee Show. The deal reportedly includes a $16 million signing bonus and $84 million in guaranteed money.
A four-year veteran, Pierce is coming off his finest NFL season to date. He had 47 catches for 1,003 yards and six touchdowns in 15 games. That came on the heels of an eye-opening 2024 season in which he had 37 catches for 824 yards and seven TDs.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Colts re-signing Alec Pierce
Chiefs Sign Kenneth Walker III
Walker finished last season as the RB22 in half-PPR, but the ranking doesn’t tell the full story. Just ask anybody who drafted Walker…and then watched him go NUCLEAR in the real-life NFL playoffs.
His fantasy production was heavily impacted by the committee with Zach Charbonnet, which often limited his volume despite elite efficiency.
When Walker operated without Charbonnet in the lineup, the upside was obvious (final three postseason games and Week 3 of the 2025 season).
- 23.4 half-PPR fantasy points per game during the postseason
- 22.0 half-PPR points in a 2025 regular-season game without Charbonnet
Those performances offer a glimpse/upside-down case of what Walker can do when given feature usage.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Chiefs signing Kenneth Walker III
The Miami Dolphins are landing the top quarterback in free agency, agreeing to a three-year, $67.5 million deal with Malik Willis, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
The Willis signing marks a changing of the guard at QB for the Dolphins, who announced the release of Tua Tagovailoa hours before reaching an agreement with Willis.
A third-round draft pick of the Titans in 2022, Willis struggled early in his career. He made three starts for Tennessee as a rookie, completing 50.8% of his throws, averaging a meager 4.5 yards per attempt, and throwing no TD passes and three interceptions.
Willis didn’t make any starts for 2023. In August 2024, the Titans traded Willis to the Packers for a seventh-round pick in 2025.
The change of scenery did wonders for Willis, who thrived as the backup to Jordan Love.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Dolphins signing Malik Willis
TE Isaiah Likely is signing a three-year deal with the Giants, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz. It’s reportedly a $40 million deal that could be worth up to $47.5 million.
Likely had some big games for the Ravens, but the presence of veteran TE Mark Andrews kept Likely from having a sustained fantasy impact.
Likely’s best season in Baltimore came in 2024, when he had 42 catches for 477 yards and six touchdowns. He had a memorable performance against the Chiefs in the NFL’s 2024 Thursday-night season opener, with nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Likely nearly had a second TD catch in that game at the end of regulation, but his toe came down out of bounds in the end zone, as the Ravens lost 27-20.
Likely has never drawn more than 60 targets in a single season, but he’s likely to surpass that target total with the Giants in 2026 if he can stay healthy.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Giants signing Isaiah Likely
Saints Sign Travis Etienne Jr.
With Alvin Kamara turning 31 in July and coming off a season abbreviated by injury, the Saints are bolstering their backfield with the signing of Etienne, who had 1,399 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns for Jacksonville last year.
Etienne has topped 1,000 rushing yards in three of his four NFL seasons. After a down year in 2024, when he had only 558 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Doug Pederson’s final year as the Jaguars’ head coach, Etienne had a strong rebound year in 2025. He had 260-1,107-7 rushing and 36-292-6 receiving in Liam Coen’s first season as Jacksonville’s head coach and playcaller. Etienne finished RB10 in PPR fantasy scoring last season and RB14 in PPR points per game.
Coen has a reputation for being a rainmaker for running backs, with Bucky Irving having a big season for the Buccaneers in 2024, when Coen was the offensive coordinator in Tampa, and Etienne thriving in 2025.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Saints signing Travis Etienne Jr.
Although Evans is entering the later stages of his career, he remains one of the NFL’s most respected wide receivers.
The 2025 season marked the first time in Evans’ career that he failed to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards, but that statistic requires context. Evans appeared in just eight games while dealing with multiple injuries, including his typical annual hamstring issues and a more unusual clavicle injury that ultimately sidelined him for most of the season.
Even so, Evans continued to command strong volume when healthy. In the seven games he played fully, he saw seven or more targets in all but one contest and posted a 24.4% target share, leading the Buccaneers during that span. His 28% target rate per route run ranked 8th-highest at the position.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the 49ers signing Mike Evans
Robinson has been one of the NFL’s most consistently targeted wide receivers over the past two seasons.
In fact, only five receivers have recorded 130 or more targets in each of the last two seasons:
- Ja’Marr Chase
- Amon-Ra St. Brown
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba
- Justin Jefferson
- Wan’Dale Robinson
That’s elite company — and a strong indicator of how heavily Robinson has been featured within his offenses under Daboll.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Titans signing Wan’Dale Robinson
Mike McCarthy reunites with one of his favorite players in Pittsburgh, Rico Dowdle. We have a lot to unpack here, so stay with me. First, we have to discuss Kaleb Johnson. I’ll keep this short and sweet. After a lost rookie season, where Kenneth Gainwell made Johnson a distant memory, Johnson has immediately been sent to the shadow realm again by a free agent running back signing. Johnson isn’t on the fantasy radar for 2026 in any format. His dynasty value barely has a pulse. It has been a horrible runout for a prospect that I loved last year.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Steelers signing Rico Dowdle
Buccaneers Sign Kenneth Gainwell
Kenneth Gainwell lands in Tampa Bay with a two-year deal to work alongside Bucky Irving. Gainwell is coming off a career-best season as the RB19 in fantasy points per game, finishing with 187 touches and 1,023 total yards. He was particularly impressive as a pass-catching weapon out of the backfield, which is where he’ll likely make his money in 2026.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Buccaneers signing Kenneth Gainwell
A fifth-round draft pick out of BYU in 2022, Allgeier ran for 1,035 yards as a rookie with the Falcons, then spent the next three years in a complementary role after Atlanta selected RB Bijan Robinson with the eighth overall pick of the 2023 draft.
In fact, investors in Bijan were dismayed by the size of Allgeier’s role. Allgeier has averaged 9.1 carries a game over the last three seasons and had a career-high eight TD runs in 2025.
Allgeier figures to have an even more substantial role in Arizona this season, although it would be premature to call him the Cardinals’ lead back. Arizona still has RBs James Conner and Trey Benson on the roster.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Cardinals signing Tyler Allgeier
Dobbins was off to a strong start for Denver in 2025 before sustaining a season-ending Lisfranc (foot) injury in Week 10. He had 153 carries for 772 yards (5.0 YPC) and four touchdowns. Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Dobbins was RB22 in half-point PPR fantasy points per game.
If Dobbins can stay healthy, he has a good chance to be Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s primary early-down back in 2026. But R.J. Harvey will have a substantial role, too. Harvey played a complementary role early in his rookie season, then became the Broncos’ lead back after Dobbins got hurt.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Broncos re-signing J.K. Dobbins
Seahawks Re-Sign Rashid Shaheed
Rashid Shaheed returns to Seattle on a three-year deal to fill out their wide receiver depth chart. Last year, Shaheed began the year with New Orleans as the WR38 in fantasy points per game (Weeks 1-9), seeing a 21% target share and 23.4% first-read share as he churned out 55.4 receiving yards per game and 1.75 yards per route run (per Fantasy Points Data). He was on his way to a solid statistical season.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Seahawks re-signing Rashid Shaheed
Kelce finished TE3 in fantasy scoring last season, but his 76 receptions were a 10-year low. Kelce had 851 receiving yards in 2025 and has finished with fewer than 1,000 yards in each of the last three years. He’s also finished with five or fewer TD catches in each of the last three years. Kelce averaged 1.47 yards per route run last year – the lowest mark of his 13-year career.
Check out our full article for the fantasy impact of the Chiefs re-signing Travis Kelce
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