Titans Won’t Trade Marcus Mariota

The Titans aren’t looking to trade recently downgraded quarterback Marcus Mariota, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweets. By the same token, the Titans’ former starter isn’t looking for a way out of Nashville, either.

The Titans benched the former No. 2 overall pick against the Broncos a couple of weeks back and, in Week 7, they stuck with Ryan Tannehill as the starter. Mariota’s Titans future is very much in flux, but the team hasn’t given up on him yet.

Mariota has had his moments, but he’s struggled for the most part over the last three seasons. After lobbing 26 TD passes in 2016, the Oregon product has just 21 in his past 35 games. He posted a 50.6 QBR figure in 2018, but he left the Titans’ starting lineup with a 30.8 number — 29th out of 30 qualified quarterbacks.

Joining Jameis Winston as the first quarterbacks to play out fifth-year option seasons, Mariota may be in his final months with the Titans. He is a free agent at year’s end and has not come especially close to living up to his No. 2 overall draft slot. He remains a key depth piece for a Titans team that has won two straight in an AFC that is short on locked-in contenders. It’s understandable they would like to keep Mariota around for a possible playoff push.

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