The Falcons are making a quarterback change of their own after Week 6, and it comes with a familiar name heading out the door.
Atlanta lost to the Chicago Bears, but Michael Penix Jr. played well enough to keep reinforcing that he’s the starter going forward. The bigger issue has been the depth chart behind him. When Penix exited briefly because of injury in Week 5, Tua Tagovailoa struggled, and the early-season play from Cooper Rush and Jack Strand has left the quarterback room looking shaky.
So after Week 6, the Falcons reportedly added Andy Dalton to the 53-man roster. To make that happen, they are releasing Rush, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
"The Falcons are releasing Cooper Rush, sources say," Rapoport reported after the Dalton news broke Monday morning.
Atlanta’s decision fits the state of its quarterback group. Tagovailoa will stay in the QB2 role, but Dalton gives the Falcons a more established veteran option than Rush. Dalton’s 2026 work with the Eagles was extremely limited - he threw one pass, and it was intercepted at the goal line - but his NFL resume with the Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, and other teams clearly carried weight here.
Rush, meanwhile, became the logical move once Dalton entered the picture. Tagovailoa is viewed as the better option, and Strand still offers more long-term upside as a rookie.
Rush got the first two starts of the season for Atlanta, and the numbers explain why his roster spot was vulnerable. He finished those games with 229 passing yards, one touchdown, four interceptions, and a 22-for-39 line, good for 56.4 percent completions.
For Falcons fans, this was hardly a shocking turn. Rush’s struggles made him the easy cut once Atlanta decided Dalton was the better quarterback to bring in.
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