While most Tennessee Titans fans are on board with bringing Ryan Tannehill back next year, Kurt Warner wonders if 2019 was an anomaly.
Super Bowl week is in full swing, with various members of the media representing their team down in Miami, and Jim Wyatt of Titans Online was able to catch up with former Rams and Cardinals quarterback, Kurt Warner.
If you recall, Warner was pulled off the streets from bagging groceries and led the then-St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl victory over the Tennessee Titans in 2000.
Wyatt asked Warner his opinion on Ryan Tannehill and his future with the team.
"“He did a great job, so happy for him. It’s like everything else when you have a body of work, and you’ve only shown me this one time, I don’t know what to believe you are. I sit here and go, is that the Ryan Tannehill I’m going to get for the rest of his career? Or, is this one of those seasons that just came together and he’s more the guy we saw in Miami? And I don’t know the answer to that.”"
.@kurt13warner on QB Ryan Tannehill and the @Titans.
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) January 31, 2020
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Warner paralleled my reservations on potentially handing out a long-term deal to Tannehill, who up until last year, had been an average quarterback in the NFL. That said, he posted career-highs in completion percentage (70.3) and quarterback rating (117.5), among other categories.
He looked comfortable in Arthur Smith’s offensive scheme and also helped A.J. Brown put the league on high alert as a rookie. The Titans don’t have the same results throughout the regular season, and therefore postseason, with Marcus Mariota under center.
I do expect that Tannehill will be back with the Titans next year, whether that be on a multi-year deal or via the franchise tag. However, I believe his projected market value of $30 million AAV exceeds his ceiling and would be more comfortable with a three-year deal in the neighborhood of $20 million AAV.
The Titans could buy themselves some time to find a future quarterback in this year’s draft by slapping the franchise tag on Tannehill, but even that will cost them $27 million to do so. It will be interesting to see what happens.