Ryan Tannehill Still the starter, for now

Published: 2023-05-03 11:47:09

Tannehill will open offseason practices as the starting quarterback while second-round pick Will Levis is the third-stringer, but Titans coach Mike Vrabel said "whatever happens after that will be up to the players," NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reports.

It's essentially just coach-speak, though other coaches have been known to make stronger commitments to the veteran option -- at least verbally, if not in practice. Widely expected to be a first-round pick, Levis dropped to the second round and went 33rd overall after the Titans traded up to get him. That's early enough to threaten Tannehill's job security, but it's also worth noting that the Titans passed on Levis at 11th overall (instead drafting OL Peter Skoronski) and didn't trade back into the first round for him. It all makes for a complicated situation, as the team doesn't seem especially confident in Levis becoming a franchise QB but will probably want to see him play at some point before next year's QB-rich draft. On top of that, Tannehill has a non-guaranteed $27 million base salary in 2023, the final year of his contract, which means he could still be released before the start of the season if the Titans love what they see from Levis on the practice field this spring/summer. Tannehill told reporters Wednesday that the "whole system is pretty much different" with Tim Kelly replacing Todd Downing as offensive coordinator in Tennessee, per Paul Kuharsky.

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