The Tennessee Titans enjoyed a high level of success after benching Marcus Mariota and bringing in Ryan Tannehill. In 10 starts, he led the Titans to a 7-3 record while completing 70% of his passes and throwing for just under 2,800 yards and 22 touchdowns.
That production led Tennessee all the way to the AFC Championship game where they fell short against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. During the playoffs, Tannehill was not asked to do much as he threw for only 369 yards in three games but did have five passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.
The Titans ultimately decided that was enough to reward him with a monster contract.
That seems a bit high in my book.
While the Tannehill comeback was great to see (also won Comeback Player of the Year), the fact that he only has 10 games with the Titans is a bit concerning. It's very similar to another team giving big money to a quarterback who performed in a handful of games.
That being the Jaguars signing of Nick Foles.
The Jaguars signed Foles to a huge contract (four years, $88 million with $50.125 guaranteed) based on his 2017 play in the playoffs with the Eagles that saw him win Super Bowl MVP. Foles also stepped in a year later when Carson Wentz got hurt and helped the Eagles win another playoff game.
The first year for Foles in Jacksonville was a disaster. He got hurt on a touchdown pass in the first series with the team and ultimately went 0-4 on the season. He fell out of favor quickly for rookie sixth-round pick Gardner Minshew and now the team already wants to get rid of him but may have difficulty in doing so based on his large contract.
The Titans (I believe) are facing the same fate with Tannehill. There was a reason the Dolphins decided to move on from him after six below mediocre years in South Beach.
Will the Titans be able to have the same success this upcoming season with Tannehill under center? If not, how long until fans turn on him for not living up to the massive contract?
It's a huge gamble by Tennessee. They would have been better off giving him the franchise tag and signing Derrick Henry to a long-term deal and seeing if the success could be replicated again before the huge pay day for Tannehill.
This has all the workings of being a very similar situation of Nick Foles in Jacksonville and if it is, good luck Tennessee.
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