Jumbo Package: Former Tide Players Make Waves In Nfl Free Agency

The football world is fully focused on NFL free agency right now. The very first news to break on Monday morning was that the Dolphins had released QB Tua Tagovailoa (and paid him $99 million to hit the door). It only took a few hours after that, and Tua already had a new job:

Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa plans to sign a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The move now will give the Falcons two left-handed quarterbacks, Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr., heading into the 2026 season.

Tagovailoa was informed Monday that he will be released by the Dolphins.

The Falcons entered the offseason in the market for a quarterback, with Penix Jr. recovering from a knee injury and Kirk Cousins set to be released before the start of the new league year Wednesday.

Atlanta’s answer at the position is Tagovailoa, who will cost the Dolphins an NFL-record $99.2 million in dead money against the salary cap. A source told Schefter that Tagovailoa’s release will be designated post-June 1, allowing the Dolphins to split the dead money over two years.

Jokes aside about it being an All-Injured QB room, this is a move that makes a good bit of sense for both parties. Both QBs being left-handed is a nice perk, and while Atlanta has been high on Penix, it’s clear they aren’t ready to put all their eggs in that basket. Add in the fact that the Falcons have a solid cast of skill players, and this is a good spot for Tua to take a 1-year career reset where he can either mentor, or take the reigns if Penix can’t get healthy or just isn’t good enough.

On top of that, Miami also jettisoned Minkah Fitzpatrick:

The New York Jets addressed a major need in their secondary before the start of free agency on Monday, acquiring five-time Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The Jets will send a 2026 seventh-round pick from the Chargers to the Dolphins, sources told ESPN.

Fitzpatrick, 29, will sign a three-year, $40 million contract with New York, agent Drew Rosenhaus told Schefter. The trade can’t be processed until the start of the league year on Wednesday.

He had one year, $15.6 million (non-guaranteed) remaining on his contract with Miami.

The Fins are clearly looking to rebuild this year, and, unfortunately for Minkah, the Jets were the beneficiary for only a bag of peanuts, rather than Miami just cutting him and letting him sign where he would like. Stay classy, Miami.

Meanwhile, Josh Jobe also got a nice deal that is his first NFL money that isn’t just 1-year UDFA contracts.

Cornerback Josh Jobe will be back for the title defense in Seattle.

According to multiple reports, Jobe has agreed to re-sign with the Seahawks. It is reported to be a three-year deal worth $24 million.

Jobe signed with the Eagles after going undrafted out of Alabama in 2022 and signed to the Seahawks’ practice squad after being waived in Philadelphia in 2024. He appeared in 10 games that season and took on a starting role in 2025.

It wasn’t long ago that Jobe was a freshman who was thrust into a National Championship blowout and had to cover a veteran Justyn Ross. He did his time at Alabama after that and wound up having two good years as a starter, but was ignored by the media and ignored by the NFL. After bouncing off the Eagles’ roster, he was picked up by Seattle in 2024 and slowly forced his way into the starting rotation the last two seasons, and now he’s a $24 million dollar man.

Somehow, the NFL didn’t notice that he was one of the top defensive backs in the whole league last year, so he didn’t get top of the market money.

Still, a 3-year, $24M deal is something that most only dream of. Roll Tide, Jobe!

If you find any value in it, Alabama did post a video yesterday with some brief highlight clips from the opening of spring practice.

WR Rico Scott got a handful of highlights, but notably he beat #21 on one of his catches… That’s Dre Kirkpatrick, Jr., who, last we heard was suspended. So it does seem like Dre is back on the team.

The video ended with Noah Rogers making a leaping catch over 6’3” JUCO corner, Nick Sherman. It was impressive… But also had the ball hitting him right in the chest before he cradled it. I really would love for that specific action to get totally eliminated from Alabama’s receivers.

We also got a little bit of actual practice footage rather than just edited highlights:

Again, nothing too noteworthy that Casey Poe took a double-team rep paired up with Michael Carroll. It probably means nothing, but Poe is a name we’ve barely talked about and could be someone worth paying attention to as Alabama looks to solidify an offensive line this offseason.

And here’s some video of the Wolf group:

In hoops news, Alabama now has only a few days to wait before they see their SEC Tournament opening opponent. And in either case, it will be a revenge game.

“If we see Texas they’ll play back-to-back nights before they play us,” Tide Head Coach Nate Oats said. “If we see Georgia, they’ll at least have had to play one night.”

But when it comes to confidence, a benefit the Longhorns and Bulldogs have is having beaten Alabama this season.

The Longhorns came to Tuscaloosa January 10 and beat the Tide 92-88. Jordan Pope, Tramon Mark and Dailyn Swain combined to score 64 points. Pope scored 28 and knocked down six 3-pointers. The ‘Horns outrebounded the Tide 48-38.

And, more recently on March 3, the Georgia Bulldogs beat Alabama 98-88. Kanon Catchings had a career night, scoring 32 points while knocking down seven three-pointers. The Tide got outrebounded 40-30 in that one Georgia got 25 second chance points compared to only nine for the Tide.

“They’re both good,” Oats said. “And we didn’t look good against either one of them. So we’re gonna have to fix what was wrong in those games.”

Good luck to the Tide!