Four veteran quarterbacks secure Week 1 starting jobs

Atlanta opens next Sunday at Pittsburgh

Wire Report IntelligenceUpdated Sep 71 min read

Heading into Week 1, the initial QB questions have been answered: Week 1 starting QBs: 🏈Atlanta: Tua Tagovailoa 🏈Clevel Via @AdamSchefter on X

What happened: Tua Tagovailoa will start for Atlanta and Deshaun Watson for Cleveland. Kirk Cousins gets the Las Vegas job, while Kyler Murray takes over in Minnesota.

Why it matters: The decisions give all four clubs clarity entering their regular-season openers. Three of the selections place veteran quarterbacks with new teams for 2026.

By the numbers: Tagovailoa, Cousins and Murray changed teams in 2026; Watson is the lone holdover among the four starters.

What to watch: The opening games will begin testing how much runway each veteran has atop the depth chart.

Sources

@AdamSchefter 2026-09-07T12:18:45.198366+00:00

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