NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans have their quarterback of the present locked in, ending speculation that they could turn to Tom Brady instead.
And with the most important position taken care of they can move on to use their franchise tag on Derrick Henry and get about the business of putting together a better team around Ryan Tannehill than the one he helped lead to a surprise appearance in the AFC Championship Game.
The team announced the deal Sunday afternoon, minutes after NFL.com reported it with the base financial info: four years, $118 million, $62 million guaranteed. [Unlocked]
Then came this.
Here’s more numbers on Ryan Tannehill’s deal, per source:
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) March 15, 2020
2020 is $17.5m fully guaranteed.
2021 is $24.5m fully guaranteed.
2022 is $29m guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed on 5th day of 2021 league year.
2023 is $27.5m base.
That suggests he’s getting $20 million in a combination of signing bonus and roster bonuses.
The numbers may look big. But consider this: In what’s is likely to be the most active free-agent quarterback market in NFL history, driving prices up, the Titans went first and got their deal done before the market got reset, and likely reset again.
That is some shrewd work.
Tannehill took over as the Titans starter after their miserable 2-4 start, =pushing aside the struggling Marcus Mariota. And turned the offense on its head. He gave the team the assertive mindset it needed, pushing the ball downfield and giving the passing offense a feel it had never had before since moving to Tennessee in 1997.
He became just the third quarterback in NFL history to have both a completion rate over 70 percent and a yards per attempt average over 9 yards in the same season, joining Hall of Famers Sammy Baugh and Joe Montana.
Provided the Titans use the franchise tag by Monday’s 10:59 a.m. CT deadline on Derrick Henry or reach a new contract with him, Tannehill will be running an offense with the same key personnel.
Tennessee will probably have a new right tackle, barring a creative negotiation or tag usage with Jack Conklin.
But the offensive staff remains the same, with Arthur Smith building on his first year of play-calling where he did great work with Tannehill, Henry, A.J. Brown, Jonnu Smith and the rest of the Titans’ weapons.
Support independent Titans coverage
PaulKuharsky.com is independent Titans coverage supported by readers. Paul has covered this team since 1996 — longer than any active beat reporter.
Full access to every member story, film study, and podcast is $7.50/month or $81/year.
