Titans say ‘we’ll see how it goes’ on Ryan Tannehill
By John Buhler
Even though Ryan Tannehill had a career year with the Tennessee Titans, general manager Jon Robinson doesn’t seem overly ecstatic about re-signing him.
Ryan Tannehill was a big reason the Tennessee Titans nearly made it to the Super Bowl.
The former first-round pick of the Miami Dolphins spent last season in Nashville and certainly made the most of it. Tannehill was initially slotted to backup Marcus Mariota, but emerged as the starter at midseason once Mariota became increasingly ineffective as a passer.
After taking over, Tennessee went 7-3 in the regular season before shocking the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens in the postseason. Tannehill even earned a Pro Bowl berth.
It was a great standalone season for the former Texas A&M product. Now 31 years old, Tannehill is poised for one more big contract before exiting his prime. One would think the Titans would be interested in bringing him back on a new deal in 2020. However, Titans general manager Jon Robinson didn’t seem over the moon with Tannehill by his comments at the scouting combine.
When asked if he envisions Ryan Tannehill as his 2020 starter: “We’ll see how it goes. His contract is up.” That doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement of the guy. The Titans do not make the AFC playoffs without Tannehill and they probably don’t get to the AFC title game without him either. We know Mariota is good as gone, but is Tannehill?
Robinson when asked if he envisions Ryan Tannehill as his 2020 starter:
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) February 25, 2020
“We’ll see how it goes. His contract is up.” #Titans
This is surprising from Robinson. If you’re not crazy about bringing the guy back, don’t let the other 31 teams know you’re out on the guy. All this will do is hurt a potential return on him should the Titans look to tag and trade.
The Titans will have to pay a premium to get a free-agent signal-caller if they let Tannehill walk. Perhaps they hav notions of Tom Brady dancing in their heads, especially with head coach Mike Vrabel having such long, storied connection to him as a teammate.
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Ultimately, Robinson may not be crazy about Tannehill, but he could have done a better job on Tuesday of reading the room.