Tennessee Titans best move of the offseason: Honorable mentions

Trading for Ryan Tannehill

Jon Robinson pulled the trigger on a trade with the Miami Dolphins that ended up looking like this on paper:

-Tennessee Titans get QB Ryan Tannehill and LB David Long

-Miami Dolphins get 2020 4th round pick and FB Chandler Cox

But that really isn’t indicative of what the trade did for both teams. The Dolphins got rid of their last big cap hit, fully hitting reset on the franchise. They got out from under the burden of having several years left on his contract while they were trying to tank to get a franchise QB (or trading for Josh Rosen which is what ultimately happened).

For the Titans, it allowed them to improve the QB2 spot behind Marcus Mariota from Blaine Gabbert to Ryan Tannehill for just $500,000 in cap space. That was a huge improvement, in fact let me show you how big of a difference that is:

Average game line over the last 16 games where each QB has passed more than 10 times:

-Blaine Gabbert: 17 of 29 (59%), 187 yards (6.4 YPA), 1 TD, 1 INT

-Ryan Tannehill: 18 of 27 (67%), 220 yards (8.1 YPA), 2 TD, 1 INT

So the net difference is a significantly more accurate QB who gives you about 35 more yards and an extra TD per game. That isn’t even factoring in the extra something that Tannehill gives you with his legs.

I’m not saying that Tannehill is a star, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him play in a few games this year, do well, and get a big contract in free agency somewhere else.