Falcons beat reporter offers bleak Michael Penix Jr. update before training camp

The Atlanta Falcons have a lot riding on Michael Penix Jr. this offseason, but whether or not that faith is well-placed has yet to be determined. Training camp will finally give us some answers about Penix's health, but that's not the only roadblock he's facing on the road to becoming Atlanta's franchise QB.

The 26-year-old is currently going through rehab for an ACL tear suffered late last season, which led the Falcons right into the arms of Tua Tagovailoa. So even once Michael Penix Jr. is fully healthy, there's no guarantee he'll be the starting quarterback because he still has to battle it out with Tua.

However, QB1 isn't the only thing that's far from guaranteed. Penix still has to affirm his long-term future with the franchise, but unfortunately, Falcons beat reporter Josh Kendall seems to believe that his chances of not only landing a long-term deal getting his fifth-year option picked up are very slim.

"He has 12 starts, four wins, two 300-yard games and a 59.6 percent completion rate in his career. Fair or not, the decision clock on his future is already ticking," Kendall wrote. "So far, Penix has done nothing to justify picking up his fifth-year option, much less offering him a long-term deal. There's still a lot of optimism in the building that he can, but he's got to beat out Tua Tagovailoa for the starting job first."

The Falcons are unlikely to pick up Michael Penix Jr.'s fifth-year option

For those who are unaware, the Dirty Birds will soon face a day of reckoning with the former top-10 pick. They will have to decide on picking up his fifth-year option next offseason, but that's also when he becomes eligible to sign a long-term extension with the team he's spent the last three years with.

And it's not like they're wrong either. The Athletic was going over the NFL player on every team with the most on the line in 2026, and there's no arguing it's anyone but Penix in Atlanta. In a new system with a new coaching staff, this season will be his final opportunity to prove he can be a franchise QB.

But unfortunately, it's getting harder and harder to believe in the Washington product. 12 starts may feel like too small of a sample size to evaluate, but it's not easy to see what you have when your young signal-caller is consistently injured. No wonder Tua is becoming the runaway favorite to start Week 1.

Right now, the Falcons have no reason to pick up his fifth-year option or eventually offer him a long-term deal. The injury history is alarming in itself, and it's not like his NFL track record is anything to phone home about, but they still want to see things through with him through this season at least.

The first step for Michael Penix Jr. to prove that he deserves to have his fifth-year option picked up or a long-term contract with Atlanta is to beat out Tua Tagovailoa for the starting job in training camp, but hopefully he's cleared in time for the July 29 start date so he doesn't start at a disadvantage.

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This article was originally published on bloggingdirty.com as Falcons beat reporter offers bleak Michael Penix Jr. update before training camp .