Much has been made about Ryan Tannehill‘s future with the Titans over the past two offseasons, given his age and contract status. The veteran signal-caller has been mentioned in trade talks with a pair of quarterbacks added in the past two drafts, and he may have come close to seeing his Tennessee tenure end this past April. 
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes that “a few teams” around the league believed Tannehill was available to be acquired via trade before the 2023 draft. The 35-year-old was indeed named as a player to watch on the trade front not long before the draft began, with the Titans being linked to a number of rookie passers. They ultimately traded up to select Will Levis with the No. 33 pick, giving them a presumed Tannehill successor.
The latter had nevertheless received a vote of confidence from new general manager Ran Carthon one month earlier, putting him on track to retain his QB1 status for at least the start of the 2023 campaign. His Week 1 performance – 16-of-34 passing, 198 scoreless yards and three interceptions – in the team’s loss to the Saints was reminiscent of his 2022 struggles. Tannehill dealt with a number of injury issues last season and his drop-off in play led to speculation the team could move on despite one year remaining on his contract.
The former Dolphins top-10 pick’s deal carries a $36.6MM cap hit, and trading or releasing him would have cleared up funds while paving the way for Levis to take on starting duties right away. The latter had injury concerns of his own entering the league, however, and the Titans remain intent on keeping he and Malik Willis sidelined as developmental options for the time being. With an heir apparent seemingly in place and Tannehill set to hit free agency in March, though, it will worth watching how the team handles the veteran moving forward.
Tannehill is one of many experienced QBs who have been floated as Jets trade targets in the wake of Aaron Rodgers‘ Achilles tear. New York did homework on the Pro Bowler this past offseason before seeing the preferred route of acquiring Rodgers come to bear. For the time being, the Jets would rather sign a street free agent than give up draft capital to add to their QB room. If that mindset changes, though, they could be among the teams who have at least recently shown interest in pulling off a Tannehill swap.
The post-game crew on TNF was saying the Jets should give Wilson until the bye week in Week 7 to show he’s the man for the job. If not, they should make the move then to try to save their season.
I see Tony Gonzalez’s point there. As it relates to Tannehill, however, the question is how much of his struggles the last two years have been due to the offensive slump in general, and how much of it is due to his own decline. It’s hard to say that neither is definitively proven right now.
Signing an aged Hopkins probably helps in comparison to the available FA moves at the time, but I don’t think that the Titans have a complete offense at the moment. Burks looked like he had potential last year, and had some good moments, but Henry’s injuries and the regression of the offensive line had a noticeable effect on Tannehill’s effectiveness. That offense isn’t built to be predicated on passing, and Tannehill doesn’t look like the same player that he was two years ago when the offense was clicking.
I don’t know if the Hopkins/Burks combination is going to be enough to make Tannehill effective, and I don’t know if Henry, while still effective, is going to be the wrecking ball he was before his injuries. It just seems like the Titans need more, another proven playmaker, to elevate the offense. Perhaps I am wrong, that’s just how it seems. Because I can’t say how much Tannehill has regressed, I can’t say whether or not I think a trade to the Jets will rejuvenate his career.
King Henry has suffered the fate of bellcow wrecking ball running backs – he’s busted up. Putting Henry into a committee situation would be the best thing the Titans could do. At half the carries, Henry could still be 90% of the back he was. At full time, he’s 70% of the back he was. I.e. a better than average starter.
Henry only lasted as long as he did since for the few of seasons in the NFL, he did share carries with DeMarco Murray for two years and then Dion Lewis. Great idea as it gave time for Henry’s body to recuperate after his 400 carry 2200 2015 Alabama season and for his body to fully harden as an adult warrior.
But like any 300-carry plus back, there’s only so many years the body can take it. Adrian Peterson a notable exception, along with Sweetness. Tony Dorsett played a long time but Dorsett openly admits he was never looking for a collision and always looking for the sidelines.
Not to mention the extra burden of a 17 game schedule, and the few extra playoff games.
Henry was fortunate to come into the league as part of a tandem, but you are correct, it’s doubtful that he will be the player that he once was. For every injury he’s had that’s kept him off the field, he’s had countless others that were likely never noted. That doesn’t mean that Henry can’t be used effectively anymore, of course. As part of a good tandem or run more sparingly he still has a lot to offer any team.
I can see trading for a 20 something Kirk Cousins (few articles prior to this one), but trade for a 35 year old Tannehill?
Cousins is exactly the same age as Tannehill
I know. The article states that the 9’ers were looking to trade for Cousins in 2017. Kirk would have been around 30 then. DC was a mess at the time, so I could see the logic of ‘let’s get Kirk to a stable team & see what he can do…’. I wouldn’t have traded the 2nd overall pick for him though.
Back then, the 49ers were looking for a long term solution. The Jets just need a guy to finish this year. If my memory is correct, the Jets had another year where there were SB expectations and lost their old vet in week 1 in Vinny T. The year went completely in the toilet because of the QB play. Tannehill isn’t great but he proved with Henry that he could be a competent game manager.
Would you trust Tannehill now? Not me. He looked awful the last half of the season last year, & kept it going week 1 this year. I don’t know the solution for the Jets, but I’m confident enough to say Ryan isn’t the answer.
They went all in for Aaron’s favorite OC. Let’s see what Hackett can do with Z Wilson.
Tannehill like I said is far from great. But I’m 100% sure that he’s better than Zach Wilson.
Are we really sure about that? I am not. See if you can salvage the kid for the next few weeks, then you can see where your season is at that point. Just keep it really simple and don’t ask him to do too much. GW can catch anything close, and they have Hall to pound the rock. Their D is legit and will keep them in games if they can limit the O mistakes, they should be fine.
Limiting mistakes is where you lose me with Zach. He will cost them sooner or later. That team is ready to win now. They need a vet.
Mark Sanchez is a vet and he could mentor Zach on the art of butt fumbling.
Uhhh, Sanchez is now working for Fox as a game analyst.
Tannehill was certainly better than Wilson, and probably, in all likelihood, is now. This may just be my impression (it is my impression; my impression may be totally incorrect), but it seems that Tannehill, along with much of the Titans’ offense, has lost some confidence. That’s what gives me pause. No matter how good a player can be or normally is, questioning himself on the field will drastically impede his play. Sometimes it’s temporary, and sometimes it is the herald of a steady decline (Carson Wentz after his injuries was a huge example).
I could be wrong, but Tannehill has seemed to be in that predicament since last year, and that’s honestly the impression that I got from the Titans’ offense as a whole.
The Redskins absolutely should have taken whatever the 49ers were willing to offer for Cousins. If Bruce Allen turned down the second overall pick for Cousins, he’s an even more short-sighted, spiteful brute of a GM than I thought.
Given how he handled Cousins (not valuable enough to sign long term, too valuable to walk), it reminds me in some way of the Josh Jacobs debacle in Las Vegas these last two years.
No it was dog in the manger. Cousins was of little or no value to Bruce Allen, but Allen wanted to ruin Cousins’s career for having said no to him. I’d say a closer parallel is how Cal McNair created and handled the DeShaun Watson trade debacle.
The second element was not just to screw over Cousins, but to make sure that Cousins doesn’t shine with Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. Allen bore a grudge against both Kyle and Mike (his father). What a mess. For those rough Redskin years, Snyder was much less of an issue than Bruce Allen. Of course, Snyder hired Allen and let him stay so ultimately bears responsibility for Allen’s poor choices over time.
I certainly agree with your sentiments regarding Bruce Allen. He was much, much, much more responsible as the head of the day-to-day operation than Snyder for the Redskins’ intolerable environment and inexplicable decision making. Luckily enough for him, his name has been left out of the headlines as a result of Snyder finally firing him. Snyder was certainly an awful owner, no doubt, but Bruce Allen escaped mass scrutiny, while Snyder bore the public blame alone.
Is this really a surprise? They were looking at trades for Henry in the offseason, why would they have kept Tannehill? They were obviously trying to start a rebuild