Could a Falcons Legend Return to Play Quarterback for the Team in 2026?
Training camp has officially started for the Atlanta Falcons, and already, the Falcons are “Falconing.” With quarterback Michael Penix still recovering from his season-ending knee injury from the year prior and the newly signed Tua Tagovailoa suffering an injury during the first day of training camp, Atlanta had to scramble to find a quarterback to take first-team offensive snaps. They were forced to sign former Raven Cooper Rush so they wouldn’t have undrafted rookie quarterbacks taking snaps with the first-team offense. It was so drastic that former NFL MVP and current Falcons team president Matt Ryan was making plays with the offense. This whole charade now leaves Atlanta with a pressing question: do they bring ‘Matty Ice’ back for one more year as the signal-caller?
While true, the fact that the question is even plausible for the 2026 Falcons is very telling of Atlanta’s quarterback room; it’s still an intriguing question to ponder. Ryan was drafted by the Falcons back in the 2008 NFL Draft and stayed with the team until the 2022 offseason. In that time span, the 41-year-old won Rookie of the Year, an MVP, and led one of the greatest offenses the league had ever seen to a Super Bowl. Safe to say, the former Boston College prospect made himself a household name in Atlanta. With a borderline Hall of Fame résumé, the prospect of the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback giving it one more go in a Falcons uniform doesn’t sound too bad. It’ll give the fans something to rally behind, considering what the former MVP has done for the team.
It’s not completely out of left field either. Last season, Chargers legend Philip Rivers, who had been retired for four seasons prior, came out of retirement to play for the Indianapolis Colts. Rivers played three games in place of the injured Daniel Jones. Ryan has been retired since 2023, so the actual possibility of the franchise legend coming out of retirement isn’t impossible. The likelihood of it happening, however, is a different story.
The injury Tagovailoa sustained was a minor back injury, one that he’ll recover from in time before the end of training camp. Head coach Kevin Stefanski also spoke to the media about Penix, stating, “He’s going to be taking snaps with the first team once the trainers clear him. For now, we’ll keep monitoring his health.” It seems that the former Washington Husky will also be healthy enough to play with the first-team offense before training camp ends. Those factors, along with the signing of the aforementioned Rush, greatly diminish the chance of Ryan stepping down as team president to put on his pads for potentially the last time. Regardless, the quarterback play needs to be spot on if they want to capture the NFC South crown. All the Falcons faithful can do is hope the injuries are simply a minor setback and not something they’ll see frequently during the regular season.
