What’s Next for Tannehill is Anybody’s Guess

NASHVILLE – Ryan Tannehill is by far the Tennessee Titans’ best choice at quarterback proper now.

He’s additionally below contract for 2023.

So naturally meaning he’ll be the Titans’ starter subsequent season.

Proper?

It hardly appeared like a positive factor primarily based on the feedback of each events on Monday.

Tannehill was at the very least definitive about wanting to return.

“In fact, yeah, I’d like to be again right here,” he stated. “And we’ll simply need to see what occurs.”

We’ll simply need to see what occurs?

An hour or so later, coach Mike Vrabel was requested if he was optimistic Tannehill can be the staff’s starter subsequent season.

His preliminary response was lower than definitive.

“We’ve a whole lot of guys right here which might be below contract,” Vrabel stated. “We’ve a whole lot of guys that need Ryan to get as wholesome as he probably can to go be our quarterback and determine issues which might be going to assist us win. That’s the case for lots of men. Numerous guys which might be below contract, completed the season not on the market. Let’s get all people wholesome and see the place all people is at, then we will make some selections.”

Sounded somewhat imprecise. So, Vrabel was requested, does that imply you’re not prepared to decide to Tannehill because the 2023 starter at this level?

“He’s our beginning quarterback,” Vrabel stated, given an opportunity to make clear his reply. “If he was wholesome, he’s our beginning quarterback. That’s all I can let you know. Proper now, there are a whole lot of guys that aren’t wholesome and that did not end the sport. We’re going to be speaking in a whole lot of hypotheticals, two days after our final recreation. I’m completely satisfied to speak rather a lot about issues that I can reply, however I am unable to reply issues which might be sooner or later.”

What’s occurring with Vrabel’s phrase dance?

It’s laborious to imagine there are vital issues about Tannehill’s well being shifting ahead.

In spite of everything, it wasn’t as if Tannehill tore an ACL, ripped an Achilles or broke a bone. He tore a number of ligaments in his ankle Dec. 18 towards the Los Angeles Chargers, an damage that sidelined him for the Titans’ closing three video games and necessitated surgical procedure. However Tannehill didn’t want any help getting across the locker room on Monday, and even talked about that he hoped to start jogging once more this week. In different phrases, he ought to be simply high-quality by the point OTAs get underway in April.

It’s the swollen state of Tannehill’s contract, extra so than his ankle, that’s the actual query mark right here.

Tannehill is scheduled to rely $36.6 million towards the cap this season, per overthecap.com, a determine that features his $27 million base wage and $9.6 million pro-rated bonus.

Why such a big determine, which accounts for 16.1 % of the Titans’ cap in 2023? It’s a results of the Titans’ choice to restructure Tannehill’s deal within the 2021 offseason once they had been making an attempt to suit Julio Jones’ 15.3 million cap hit into the price range. What appeared like a good suggestion on the time by no means panned out, because the injury-plagued Jones performed simply 10 video games in 2021 earlier than the Titans launched him.

In any occasion, Tannehill’s contract is certainly one of a number of that now comes below scrutiny for the Titans, who’ve to start out whacking away on the payroll in weeks to return.

The Titans at present sit $18.5 million over the league’s salary-cap restrict for 2023, the third-highest determine within the NFL, per OverTheCap. That’s with out accounting for a possible new deal for star defensive sort out Jeffery Simmons, potential re-signings of linebacker David Lengthy and guard Nate Davis, and a wanted splash or two within the free-agent market.

There are a variety of potential cuts that might be made to assist trim the payroll corresponding to left sort out Taylor Lewan, edge rusher Bud Dupree, inside linebacker Zach Cunningham and extensive receiver Robert Woods.

So possibly the answer for Tannehill, relying on the reduction the Titans would possibly get from chopping others, may be to re-structure his deal – ideally decreasing his 2023 cap determine with out handicapping the staff any additional in the long term.

Then once more, let’s needless to say the overall supervisor – Jon Robinson – who introduced Tannehill to Tennessee is gone.

Who’s to say what the technique of the brand new man will likely be? What occurs if he and Vrabel resolve on a “blow-it-all-up” path, which – at the very least theoretically – might result in the Titans making Tannehill a post-June 1 lower and pocketing $27 million in salary-cap financial savings (versus $9.6 million in useless cash)? What occurs in the event that they wish to gather as many draft picks as potential, utilizing Tannehill to attempt to search one?

“Yeah, it’s undoubtedly not the enjoyable a part of the enterprise,” Tannehill stated when requested in regards to the NFL’s annual offseason uncertainties. “However it’s one thing that you simply do get used to over time. Simply form of need to take it because it comes, hold your thoughts in a superb house, hold the individuals round you that assist you and care about you, and simply construct these relationships, lean on these relationships and simply take it the way it comes.”

The plain subsequent query: Who precisely can be the Titans’ 2023 starter in the event that they moved on from Tannehill? That’s one other story for down the highway.

Within the meantime, it’s clear Tannehill is the best choice on the roster at current.

However as was mirrored within the cloudy seems into the long run by Tannehill and Vrabel on Monday, that doesn’t imply his return is automated.