After an improbable postseason run in 2019, Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill earned himself a hefty contract extension from the team, ensuring he’ll be the man under center for the foreseeable future.
Tannehill went 7-3 as a starter last season, tossing 22 touchdowns to just six interceptions while completing a career high 70 percent of his throws. In the process, Tannehill beat both the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and the No. 1 seed Baltimore Ravens in the AFC playoffs, before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the conference championship game.
Top top it all off, Tannehill took home to NFL Comeback Player of the Year award after the season wrapped up. Not a bad season at all for a guy who wasn’t even the team’s starter at the beginning of the season.
By handing him a four-year $118 million contract extension, the Titans clearly believe he is their franchise quarterback moving forward. But, did they jump the gun a bit on Tannehill?
His contract was about to expire, so they really had no choice but to sign him, but placing all of their faith in a guy who’s only had two seasons with a winning record, both of which he did not start all 16 games, may come back to bite the team in the end.
The Titans would be wise to implement some kind of contingency plan if Tannehill fails to live up to his contract. And they could do so through the upcoming draft, which is less than a week away.
They certainly won’t target one in round one or two, but once the third round rolls around, there could be some interesting names to keep an eye on.
Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, Georgia’s Jake Fromm and even Washington’s Jacob Eason could all be in play for Tennessee. Even if Tannehill does play up to par next year, having one of these guys as the team’s backup would be solid, especially since Marcus Mariota walked in free agency.
Right now, it’s hard to tell if Tannehill is really worth the contract that he was handed by Tennessee. The offense relied heavily on the running game down the stretch and Tannehill was more of a game manager than anything.
Only time will tell with Tannehill, but nevertheless, the Titans should still look for backup plans just in case the Tannehill experiment doesn’t work out.
