Ryan Tannehill is Tennessee Titans priority, not Derrick Henry
By Will Lomas
The Tennessee Titans have their QB, they just don’t know for how long.
The choice for the Tennessee Titans should be pretty obvious when they have to choose between a quarterback that helped drag the offense from the basement to the roof vs a running back who broke records and led the league in rushing yards.
Wait.
Alright, so maybe it isn’t an easy choice but I think in our hearts we all know that running back’s have a shorter shelf life than quarterbacks in the NFL and it makes sense for the Titans to prioritize Ryan Tannehill over Derrick Henry.
Now, that doesn’t mean that the Titans truly have to pick and choose, and in fact I would guess that the Titans keep both on the roster in 2020. But, if I had to choose one that was going to get a long deal and one that was going to get tagged, then I would imagine Henry gets the tag.
I’m not the only one who is saying this either, just listen to Ian Rapoport here:
He says that the Titans are trying to get a deal done with Tannehill before the trade deadline, which definitely insinuates that if Tennessee can’t get a deal done with Tannehill they will use that franchise tag on him.
Based on the rest of the conversation, you have to assume that would mean Henry potentially testing free agency to see if anyone is committed to paying a running back a lot of money.
Speaking of Rapoport, he has also said in the past that he believes that the market for Henry is strongest in Tennessee because he means so much to the offense there. I would say that it also doesn’t hurt that he has a great built in fan base here from his time at Alabama.
Teams also won’t be as quick to overlook his long stretches where he doesn’t always look like a world beater. Before the Kansas City Chiefs game this year, Henry only topped 100 rushing yards going all the way back to last season.
Before the first dominant stretch of his career in December last year, he only had two 100 yard rushing performances in his 43 career games.
Now, I absolutely think the Titans should give Derrick Henry a deal in free agency and/or whether that means the franchise tag or a deal. However, that report suggests that the Titans first priority is getting Tannehill under contract and if you are going to pick between two players who can be hot and cold, most teams are going to lean quarterback.