With a young blue-chip talent at QB coming available only a year into his career, could the Tennessee Titans be interested in making a deal?
Only a year into his young career after being selected as the Cardinals’ quarterback of the future, it is looking more and more as though Josh Rosen may be suiting up for another team next season.
The Cardinals are allegedly shopping the young quarterback and are projected to get a third round pick for Rosen even though they are trying to play their cards close to the chest. If a 22 year old potential franchise quarterback potentially comes on the market for only a third round pick, most teams in the league should do their due diligence, the Tennessee Titans included.
QB Marcus Mariota has shown flashes of brilliance in his career with the Titans, especially in his second season with the team. Mariota inherited a team with almost no talent on the offense. Many people will argue that the Titans still haven’t managed to put the parts around him to succeed.
That said, time is running out for Tennessee to figure out if he is “the guy” and Mariota has struggled to be consistent and avoid injuries. Over the last three seasons the team has been 9-7 three times and he was arguably one of the biggest things holding a talented Tennessee roster back during the last two seasons.
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Mariota could still reach his full potential, but his inconsistency and injury concerns are real issues for a team that is ready to compete now. As the Tennessee Titans saw last season when Mariota was on his game, the team was a juggernaut, but when he was forced to miss time or play through injuries the team struggled to win games and the passing offense sputtered.
As such, trading for a young, talented passer as collateral for an oft-injured starting quarterback could be just what this roster needs to pull out a few more wins and get over that 9-7 hump if Mariota again fails to make it 16 games as he as in his other four seasons. I’d liken this concept to when the Saints traded a third round pick for a one-year rental on Teddy Bridgewater. Like the Titans, the Saints already had a playoff caliber roster and wanted to hedge their bets in case Drew Brees had to miss any time.
In this case, the trade would have even more upside for the Titans than the Bridgewater trade had for the Saints. If Mariota can overcome his struggles with injuries and consistency in 2019, the Titans can resign him to an extension and they have their quarterback of the future as they had hoped as well as a cheap, talented backup option who could later be flipped for another draft pick.
If Mariota still continues to struggle in his development and misses games again in 2019, the Titans have another potential franchise quarterback waiting in the wings for only a third round pick and wouldn’t have to invest another high draft pick to start over at the position. Both of these situations would be a win for the Titans that would improve the roster for 2019 and beyond as they try and chase the Lombardi Trophy.