The Tennessee Titans’ quarterback situation is going to be a polarizing topic of conversation this offseason.
For the first time in a while, the Titans have the option to move on from Ryan Tannehill and can save anywhere from approximately $17 million to $27 million, depending on when they cut or trade him.
That option has led many to believe that it’s ultimately time to just move on and either go young at the position or swing for an established veteran, such as Lamar Jackson or Aaron Rodgers.
Truthfully, one of the hardest realities to accept about the modern-day NFL is that overpaying for average quarterback play is arguably the worst situation to be in as a franchise, largely due to the rapidly inflated salaries that are on the cusp of becoming franchise-crippling at this point.
QB situations in the NFL:
1) Having Patrick Mahomes
2) Having a guy on a rookie contract that can go toe-to-toe with 15
3) Having a guy on an expensive deal that can go toe-to-toe with 15
4) Having a rookie you drafted and are developing
5) Overpaying for averageGet out of 5.… https://t.co/zBvb08MzxU
— Anand Nanduri (@NanduriNFL) February 20, 2023
Barry Werner of The List Wire recently graded the quarterback situations of all 32 teams, and he largely agrees that the Titans are not in a good spot when it comes to the most important position in all of professional sports.
Werner gave the Titans’ quarterbacks a grade of a “D”, claiming that Mike Vrabel has “big problems” when it comes to his current crop of signal-callers.
To be fair, Tannehill is far from a “D”-level quarterback. After all, he would be a massive upgrade for several teams around the league, and he has proven that he can keep a team relevant when he’s surrounded by adequate talent.
However, I believe this is a spot-on grade for several reasons, even with the success he’s had overall since becoming the starter in 2019.
The Titans quarterback is currently on the books for nearly $37 million. That would be a hard pill to swallow regardless, but it’s even harder to stomach knowing the team is nearly $23 million over the salary cap at the moment.
Having to pay that type of money to a slightly above-average quarterback that is unable to elevate the talent around him is only going to limit a team’s ceiling, especially when that cap number only hinders said team from being able to add the type of talent Tannehill needs around him to truly excel.
Yes, you could extend and/or restructure his deal to lower that cap number in 2023, but all the Titans would be doing is unnecessarily committing a large chunk of the future money to an aging quarterback that most people would agree the Titans probably need to move on from sooner rather than later.
According to Spotrac, the Titans are expected to have north of $90 million in cap space by 2024. And that’s using a $235M estimation instead of the $256M that OTC predicted. pic.twitter.com/bxnUU5f9G9
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) February 6, 2023
When you consider all of those facts and weigh them together, it’s easy to see how Werner landed on his grade.
