Report: Titans discussing long-term contract to keep Ryan Tannehill as starting quarterback
On October 16, the Tennessee Titans announced that they were benching Marcus Mariota and giving Ryan Tannehill, acquired via trade with the Miami Dolphins earlier this year, a chance to start at quarterback.
At the time, the Titans were 2-4, coming off a shutout loss to the Denver Broncos.
Since then, Tennessee has won five of six to get to 7-5, and is fighting for the second AFC wild card spot.
And now team brass is thinking it wants to keep Tannehill around.
Report: Titans considering extension
On Sunday, Dianna Russini of ESPN tweeted that the Titans are “internally discussing” a new contract for Tannehill with the intention of keeping him as the franchise’s No. 1 quarterback.
As part of the trade, Tannehill agreed to a reworking of his contract, and the Dolphins are paying part of his salary. The Titans are on the hook for just $2 million in regular-season salary plus incentives, many of which he is on track to earn.
Obviously signing him to a longer-term deal with the premise that he’ll be Tennessee’s starter will come with a significantly higher price tag, but Tannehill has earned it with his play.
Titans’ offense has improved
Tennessee benched Mariota after six games, and Tannehill has now started six, so it gives us a pretty good snapshot of what the offense has done with both running the show.
Through the first six games of the season, the Titans averaged:
290.5 total yards of offense
187.7 passing yards
29.5 percent on third-down conversions
16.3 points per game
Over the last six games, they’ve averaged:
369.0 total yards of offense
221.0 passing yards
39.7 percent on third-down conversions
29.7 points per game
Most importantly, they’ve been winning, which could lead to a nice payday for Tannehill.
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