It does not sound like Ryan Tannehill will be returning to the Tennessee Titans in 2024. While this should not come as a surprise, we received the first official indication of his departure on Tuesday.
General manager Ran Carthon essentially confirmed that the organization is going to allow the 35-year-old to walk. However, he did not hand the keys over to Will Levis and Malik Willis.
Rather, the second-year GM indicated that Tennessee plans to add another signal-caller to the mix while speaking at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis on Monday. Carthon confidently stated that the Titans will add a third quarterback to its roster this offseason.
His declaration marks the end of Tannehill’s time in Nashville. He said that the team will be adding a third quarterback, not a fourth. Levis and Willis are locked in to their rookie deals. Thus, if the team is going to add a third quarterback, that indicates Tannehill’s departure. Process of elimination there.
Carthon did not indicate whether Tennessee is going to add a quarterback through the NFL Draft or through free agency. This year’s draft class is loaded at the position, with guys like Spencer Rattler, Michael Pratt, Joe Milton, Sam Hartman, Jordan Travis and Carter Bradley all likely to be available during or after the second round. Kirk Cousins, Baker Mayfield, Gardner Minshew, Jacoby Brissett and Jameis Winston are among the top soon-to-be free agents.
It will be interesting to see if the Titans choose to take yet another quarterback in the draft, and when. Should they choose to do so, that would be the third year in a row.
Either way, it sounds like Carthon is not quite ready to commit to Will Levis or Malik Willis as the guy just yet. That could change over the next few weeks and months, but he and the organization are keeping their options open now that Tannehill is presumably on his way out!