Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - QB Rumor Mill Heats Up, Tannehill+Brady & Amy Adams Strunk is MOM

Episode Date: March 5, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, the rumor mill keeps on spinning, spinning, spinning. It is peak, peak rumor season in the NFL. Every day, every hour, new reports, new rumors about player movement, different transactions, what could take place with the cba with the negotiations in flux the players are currently waiting on a vote that vote may not take place for a while free agency tampering kicks off on the 16th the tag deadline is on march 12th there's so much going on right now that we are just getting different stories out the wazoo every single second of the

day it appears so what i'm gonna do is'm going to spend today's episode talking about those different rumors in our first two segments. We are going to focus on the Titans two top options at quarterback. That is all that appears to be on the plate when it comes to Titans news at this moment in time. So we are going to talk first about Ryan Tannehill. We had a potential suitor pop up in the news for Ryan Tannehill outside of Nashville. So we will talk about that.

Also, Ryan Tannehill himself went on. Also, the man himself, Ryan Tannehill, talked about his free agency on Wednesday, talked about how he feels about coming back to Nashville. So we are going to play that for you guys. Make sure you are up to date on everything on the Tannehill front. And, of course, you can't talk Tannehill and Titans quarterback situation without talking a little bit of Tom Brady. So in our second segment, we are going to go over all the most recent reports

and rumors around Tom Brady, including a telephone conversation with Bill Belichick. We're getting conflicting reports on that, so I'm going to get you guys up to date there. And then in our third segment, I do want to make sure that we are keeping you guys up to date on the tornado relief efforts as well. So we had a big moment with that this week. I want to explain what the Titans organization is doing to help and what the NFL is doing to help as well. Also, I want to apologize again to you guys for a

late episode this Thursday. I have had a very tumultuous week myself, had a window broken out at my house, had a tooth removed after some dental work, and then I had my washer flood over the weekend and experienced some light. And then my washer flooded this week, so I've been dealing with the effects of that, trying to repair that damage. So it has been a crazy week for me personally, also with all the rumors and the reports surrounding the Titans and their quarterback situation. So I guess we are breaking all of that down today. A lot to talk about. Let's get it.

On Wednesday, ESPN's Jenna Lane reported that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have emerged as potential suitors for Ryan Tannehill's services if he does not come back to Nashville. This does make sense because the Tampa Bay organization has made it known that they are possibly looking to move forward from former number one overall pick Jameis Winston after a disastrous season that saw him throw 30 interceptions and Tampa Bay's head coach Bruce Arians has had the most success in his career with a veteran quarterback, so Ryan Tannehill would be a logical fit. This does line up with reports we got coming out of the combine that the Titans would use the tag on Derrick Henry

and let Ryan Tannehill hit the free agent market. Now this does complicate matters for the Titans. If Ryan Tannehill does decide to test the free agent market and he does have a numerous amount of suitors who are giving him different contract offers, well that could just jack up the price for the Titans when if they would have focused on getting a long-term deal done with Tannehill earlier, could have been done at a smaller salary. That's yet to be seen. Other options that the Titans would have would include franchise tagging or using the other tag on Ryan Tannehill. As I just mentioned, it is conventional wisdom right now that the Titans will use the franchise tag on Derrick Henry. But because the NFL is

working under the current CBA, Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the new Collective Bargaining Agreement hasn't been agreed upon by the players yet right now the Titans could use both of those tags the only issue is if the new collective bargaining agreement is ratified at any time within the next two weeks the NFL will then ask the team to release one of the players that they have tagged and based on that report coming out of the combine the player that the Titans would release would then be Ryan Tannehill, and he would just hit the free agent market anyways. So right now, odds are that Ryan Tannehill is going to hit the free agent market, whether the Titans decide to tag him or not. You could run into further issues, not just that Ryan Tannehill would have other suitors that could drive up his price and create competition for his services,

but also the Titans not trying to get a long-term deal done with him and letting him hit the free agent market could alienate Ryan Tannehill and his agent and cause them to not want to come back to Tennessee regardless of what the price is or what salary is being offered. And at that moment in time, the Titans run the risk of leaving themselves without a solid option. They are known to be in pursuit of Tom Brady, but if Tom Brady decides to go back to New England or chooses another team, and during that process, the Titans have alienated Ryan Tannehill, then they could be left in a very sticky situation at the quarterback position.

One thing that is a positive is Ryan Tannehill himself has even mentioned that he would like to return to the Tennessee Titans based on what they started building last year, and he mentioned that on Sirius XM Radio on Wednesday. I like what we started there last year, the guys that were on the team, and I'd like feedback. We'll see what happens, obviously. Getting down to the

last couple of weeks here, you know, CBA and a lot of conversations going to go on back and forth to kind of figure out where we're at. But we'll see. It's going to be an exciting couple of weeks, no matter what happens. Yeah, you know, throughout this, I learned a lot last year, you know, being in the situation I was last year where I was still under contract. You know, I knew I wasn't going back to Miami, but I was still under contract. Couldn't really do anything. Yeah, you know, I wasn't able to free agency had opened. I wasn't able to talk to any other teams or anything like that.

You know, they basically said, hey, we're going to try to trade you. And my hands were tied. So we just kind of had to sit there. And I learned a lot through that just to be able to be patient and wait for what's going to happen. Don't try to anticipate or worry about something you can't control. So at this point, it's all a matter of just kind of playing the waiting game and see what happens here in the next couple of weeks.

As Tannehill mentioned, a lot around the NFL are currently playing the waiting game, trying to see if the new collective bargaining agreement will be accepted so they know exactly what rules to play by this offseason. Unfortunately, the vote for the players' deadline is not until March 12th at midnight, and the tag deadline is March the 12th at 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. So the Titans will have to operate and make a few decisions without knowing exactly what rules they'll have to play by going forward, and that'll make treacherous waters for John Robinson to navigate through the beginning of March. If you've been a

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Once again, text the word advertising to 33777 or visit lockedonpodcast.com advertising. We look forward to hearing from you. It is no secret whatsoever that the Titans are interested in Tom Brady. They've made that known. Mike Vrabel has not shied away from the conversation about Tom Brady whatsoever. And there's the obvious New England connections that everyone tends to point out with the Titans organization. John Robinson had experience with New England.

Obviously, Mike Vrabel's experience there as a player. All the different players that the Titans have have signed coming from new england so it all makes sense and you get why the connection is being made so strongly but tom brady is not just the apple of the eye for the tennessee titans we are now getting reports that san francisco after going to the super bowl with jimmy garoppolo could look to trade Jimmy G and sign Tom Brady. We've heard rumors that the Cowboys could look to tag and trade Dak Prescott and in return sign Tom Brady. And, of course, we have heard about the Titans being interested in Tom Brady. Well, the Tom Brady rumors took a big spike this week

when we got reports about a phone conversation that took place this week between him and Bell Belichick. And the reports and the rumors coming out of that are that the phone call did not go well. But then later on that day, we got conflicting reports that Tom Brady had spoken with Belichick a few weeks before. And the conversation was just business as usual.

They just discussed the future of the team, the future of the roster, and what the vision is going forward. At this moment in time, Tom Brady and the Patriots and almost the entire NFL, just a quick, you know, spurt here, people wonder why the Titans haven't re-signed any of their big names or we haven't heard any reports of contract figures with guys that the Titans could logically re-sign any of their big names or we haven't heard any reports of contract figures with guys that the Titans could logically re-sign right now there's nothing against re-signing your own players early but everyone the entire NFL is waiting on the collective bargaining agreement we talked about that in our first segment of how that affects the transition tag and the franchise

tag and how at this moment in time it's almost kind of pointless to do it when you don't know what rules you're going to be playing under going forward and all of that is making teams be hesitant to give out any deals or sign any contracts or offer anything because you simply don't know what the salary cap is going to be going forward and you don't know what the rules will be because you don't know which collective bargaining agreement you're going to be facing. So it makes sense that Tom Brady hasn't gotten any official offers from the Patriots. They haven't really talked money. And because of that, it leaves speculation open. It leaves the entire league open to speculate.

We saw Tom Brady on the front cover of the Los Angeles Times talking about his prospects are coming to play for the Chargers or the Rams. So things are crazy right now with Tom Brady. And I understand the frustration from Titans fans who feel, why go after a 43-year-old quarterback when you have someone like Ryan Tannehill, who basically gave the team the most successful offensive season that they've had in almost two decades. I understand all of that well this is another side of those reports and we got this you know I'm recording midday Thursday because like I said I issue with my washer flooding yesterday that caused me to spend most of my day dealing with repairing that another thing like like the tooth issue it pales in comparison to what a lot of people are dealing with in Tennessee right now but but did make it difficult to get a recording.

So because of that, it actually worked in the media and that their interest in Tom Brady is just a negotiation tactic to help them lock in Ryan Tannehill early. So it seems like from the audio that I played for you guys in the first segment with Ryan Tannehill on Sirius XM radio, Ryan Tannehill wants to come back to Nashville. His words at the end of the season and his exit interviews, him following up with another interview here. He's just a couple of weeks away from free agency. There's absolutely no reason, absolutely no reason whatsoever

that he would tip his hand and talk about how much he wants to come back to Tennessee if he weren't telling the truth about that. And that's the way that I read the situation. So in my opinion opinion you look at somebody like Ryan Tannehill he wants to stay in Tennessee but he switched agents for a reason I mentioned this on yesterday's show he wants money he wants to get paid this might be his last big contract in the NFL so he wants to make sure he's getting every dollar that he can possibly get so how do the Titans you know know, fight back here?

Because Tannehill's agent can come to the table. Tannehill's agent knows what they're offering Derrick Henry. It's John Robinson's agent too, so there's inside information there. They know they want Tannehill back. He fits the system. He keeps the chemistry going. The fans want Ryan Tannehill back mostly. So he has all the leverage over the Titans right

now when it comes to contract negotiations. So how do the Titans get some of that leverage back on their side? Well, they need to have a competent option outside of Ryan Tannehill because Ryan Tannehill's agent is smart enough to know the Titans can't go with a rookie. The Titans can't lose out on Brady. The Titans can't go into next season with, you know, a rookie quarterback or a Case Keenum or something like that. They absolutely cannot do that to this fan base. So Tannehill's agent knows that the Titans have to find a logical way to fight back. And according to the most recent reports that came out this morning, it appears that their way of fighting back is to act like Tom Brady is truly considering them and right now with everything I mentioned about the Patriots being reluctant to give Brady an offer due to the CBA

well that allows the Titans to continue to use Tom Brady as you know a bargaining chip in these negotiations the issue you're going to run into is the Titans have to decide whether to tag Ryan Tannehill by the 12th, and that'll be before the players are required to vote on the CBA. So the Titans will kind of have to give that tag if they choose to in the dark. And then also, what if the CBA is ratified and Tom Brady goes back to the Patriots very quickly? I mean, that's not out of the realm of possibility.

So if for some reason, and it seems like Tom Brady is the biggest domino, everyone's waiting to fall to see what they're going to do. But if for some reason Tom Brady signs with the Patriots really quickly, then the Titans lose all of their leverage. And then on the flip side of that, if Tom Brady strings things out, like take, for example, Kawhi Leonard. If you follow the NBA, Kawhi Leonard strung out his free agency far past what most free agents do,

and it held up a bunch of different players who were looking to sign because teams wanted to know what Kawhi Leonard was going to do. I'm seeing something similar here with Tom Brady that if Tom Brady takes his free agency tour late into March well that's going to hold up a bunch of other quarterbacks and a bunch of other teams who are pursuing him will that alienate Ryan Tannehill and cause him just to say screw it I'm not going to wait for you guys and to see what you want to do with Tom Brady I'm leaving that's a possible outcome as well so there will be a lot to follow here and the Tom Brady rumors are just as important to

the Titans offseason as the Tannehill rumors maybe not so much because the Titans are absolutely looking to sign Brady but because he is their biggest bargaining chip when it comes to negotiating with Ryan Tannehill so that makes all of the rumors and all the reports around Tom Brady pretty relevant to the Titans organization and to the Titans fan base. So I wanted to make sure to keep you guys up to date on that as well. Next, I am going to give you guys another update on the tornado relief efforts in the Nashville and Middle Tennessee area. We got a really nice story coming from the Tennessee Titans and the NFL in general. So I want to make sure you guys are aware of that. First things first, I do just want to say I hope that anyone affected by the Nashville-Middle Tennessee tornadoes

is in a better spot and doing better today than directly after. We have to continue to hold each other up and continue to volunteer, continue to donate, and do whatever we possibly can for the people affected and the area in general. Which leads me to what I want to leave you guys with to end the show today. Which leads me to what I want to leave you guys with to end the show today. I just want to talk about mom. Amy Adams Strunk, the controlling owner of the Tennessee Titans. And I have been effusive in my praise for her on this podcast. I think that everything that she has done for the team, for the facilities,

with the organization, hiring John Robinson, the changes that she's made to the jerseys, having the draft in Nashville. She is one of the most underrated and least talked about when they should be talked about owners in all the professional sports, period, all around the world, not just America. She is fantastic having a strong female to show other women and other girls what they can be, the power they can hold, and the good that they can do. That's a larger point. But actually on the ground for the city, for the organization, she has been quite the blessing.

So I think we need to always keep that in mind when thinking about the team is how lucky we are to have her as the controlling owner at this moment in time. Another example of that, you knew that the Titans organization and Amy would come to the bat ready to go when it comes to dealing with the relief efforts with the tornado. And we saw that this week. Amy Adams-Strunk and the Titans organization pledged a million dollars to the relief and this is not the first time that we've seen her step up in a big moment when the flooding happened in Houston. She was one of the first people to donate a large chunk of change to J.J.

Watt as he tried to raise money. She, I believe, donated a million dollars to that cause as well. The NFL's nonprofit organization also kicked in $250,000. So, you know, it's nice to see some people with the ability to, you know, donate large chunks of change actually be able to do that and actually offer that assistance in a world where, you know, there are a lot of people with the means to do so who don't take the opportunity and take the challenge and do that so I just wanted to make sure that I rounded out today's show by putting a spotlight on Amy Adams Strunk the Titans organization and the NFL's non-profit organization for trying to help out in any way that they possibly can I also just want to say, I do see some things online

from time to time and people saying that's not enough money, should have been more, could have been 10 million. Listen, I just don't think it's ever the right call to try to talk down on somebody for trying to help. Yeah, you know, there are people who have more money. You could always give more and do more, but I don't think it's anybody's place to say, hey, a million dollars isn't enough help. So just keep that in mind. Really appreciate everything that Amy does for the organization and everything she does for the community. And I wanted to make sure to put a spotlight on that as well. So we as Titans fans and people who follow the team understand the type of person we have

running the show and once again I guess I just want to say that I'm grateful to have Amy Adams Strunk as as the Titans controlling owner and I think everyone should should follow me in that feeling and in that sentiment as well but that is going to wrap up today's show I do want to let you guys go with something a little more positive though and kind of raise your spirits here. On Twitter, I saw something pretty funny on Thursday morning saying that Dennis Kelly, the Titans swing tackle and backup tackle could potentially get more money in free agency than Derrick Henry. That is absolute blasphemy. That is insane. I'm not going to try to crap on anybody or tear anybody down or anything like that, but those reports are just preposterous.

Like I said, it's blasphemous. I even said that I will shave my eyebrows live on YouTube if Dennis Kelly gets a bigger contract than Derrick Henry in free agency, and I will stick to that because of how impossible I really truly think it is. So you guys can find that tweet. I think a lot of people have retweeted that and, you know, are going to hold me to that, and I feel perfectly fine making that sort of challenge because Dennis Kelly is not going to get more money than Derek Henry in free agency. What are we even talking about here? So I thought that was pretty funny and

you know, I wanted to have some fun with that as well. So I wanted to leave you guys with that. Make sure we got out of here on a positive and upbeat note, but I will be back with you guys tomorrow. Of course, we are going to do another installment in our free agency preview, unless there are some sort of bombshell news dropped which I will lead the show with that of course make sure you guys are up to date but most likely we will cap off the week with a little free agency Friday and at this point with you know the tooth issue I had and Tuesday show being mostly about the tornado relief efforts with today being focused on all these quarterback rumors that we're getting.

We're going to have to kick the free agency preview series into overdrive. So I will be doing that on Friday and I'll be back with you guys with that and another mailbag. So make sure that you are sending in your questions to me at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter as well. But that is going to wrap up today's show. Be back with you guys on Friday. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.