Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans SHOULD TRADE for Tua Tagovailoa as Backup QB, but NOT for the Reason You Think!

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

The Tennessee Titans have the most cap space in the entire NFL and they can use it to get creative. One creative idea would be to trade for Tua Tagavoiloa and absorb salary from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a high level draft pick. This accomplishes two things; it gets the Titans a valuable pick in the draft AND gives them a great backup quarterback that has ties to new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. This is the kind of trade you see a lot in the NBA and it is less likely in the NFL, but it is certainly possible and the Titans need to consider. LOCKED ON TITANS EVERYDAY CLUB: https://lockedontitans.supercast.com/ Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclubSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!TurboTaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.FanDuelUse your Profit Boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals.Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto get started. 5-Hour ENERGYHave your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at 5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon.IndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.ZocdocStop putting off your doctor’s appointments and get the care you need.Go to http://Zocdoc.com/lockedonnfl to find and instantly book a top-rated doctortoday. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I know it sounds crazy, but the Tennessee Titans should trade for Tuatugaviloa. Let me explain on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked-on Titans podcast is brought to you by Fandall. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for a chance to win a trip to the NBA finals.

Play your game with Fandle, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. On today's bonus episode, I'm going to tell you why the Tennessee Titans need to trade for Tua. And I know that it sounds nuts, but walk with me here because it does make a ton of sense for the Titans. Before I dive in, do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans your first list. Listen, each and every day. Remember Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day.

Speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one. Roster moves are coming. Free agency less than a month away. The draft right around the corner, you want to stay as up to date, as informed, as entertained as a Tennessee Titans fan could possibly be.

Make sure that you stay locked in with the number one. Tennessee Titans podcast in the world. Locked on Titans. But with that being said, again, I know it sounds nuts, but the Titans should trade for Tuatug of Iloa. It makes so much sense for multiple reasons. Now, Matthew Waldman on Twitter is the one

who first put this idea out into the universe, but quite frankly, I think it's something that the Tennessee Titan should do, and here is why. They can get themselves a prime draft pick by taking on Tua's contract. Now, this concept is more of an NBA concept. This happens all the time in the NBA

where a team will attach a draft pick to a salary to get that salary off their books. You are basically paying a team a draft pick to take salary off your salary cap. And that's exactly what the Miami Dolphins want to do with Tua. Is this kind of trade likely in the NFL? Is this kind of trade common in the NFL. The answer is no. So I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I think that this is something that will happen for the Titans,

but I'm telling you that it's something that should happen. And it's something that the Tennessee Titans must discuss. And here's the nuts and bolts of how this would work. Right now, Tua would be $99 million of dead cap on the Miami Dolphin salary cap if they were to cut him outright. So it makes a lot more sense for the dolphins to trade Tua and right now He has 39 million dollars of salary okay not his bonuses not as bonuses in the next year that absorb up if they cut him 39 million dollars of salary in which the Tennessee Titans can choose to take all of that the entire 39 million dollar salary they could choose to take a portion of that like 30 million dollars and that would significantly help the Miami Dolphins cap situation. That would be the Dolphins motivation for doing this is

to get some cap relief. Now what would they give the Titans back? This is the Tennessee Titans motivation. The Dolphins have the 43rd pick in the draft. That's their second round pick. They also have 75, 87,

and 93 picks in the third round. If you're the Tennessee Titans, you have $100 million in cap space. You are ideally suited to make this kind of trade. And we saw this last time in the NFL when Brock Osweiler was traded to the Houston Texans or from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns.

One way or the other, I forget whether it was Texans to Browns or Browns to Texans. But literally, the team that traded him away attached a second round pick to get his salary off their book. So again, this is something that there is precedent for in the NFL. But the Tennessee Titans could take on 3. $30 million of Tua salary and receive the 43rd pick in the draft. That would be an incredible move for the Titans. And the objections that I hear to this is

the Titans shouldn't be using $30 million of their cap space on Tua. That's insane. But hear me out. I hear a lot of you guys say. Well, they need to use that on players. Well, there's something that you need to recognize right away. The Titans have $100 million in salary cap space. They are not going to use all of that.

The Titans are not going to use $100 million in salary cap space on free agents. That's not going to happen. Period. Done. End of conversation. They will not be using the entire $100 million on players. No matter what, whether they do this trade or not. That will not happen.

Period. You can roll over cap space in the NFL. The Titans always go into the season and most NFL teams go into the season with about 15 to 20 million dollars of salary cap space just in case something happens. You want to make a trade in the middle of the season. You want to sign players during the season because you're dealing with injuries. You need a little bit of money to play with.

So if you're saying, well they can't do that because they need to use that money on free agents. The reality is the Titans are not going to be. going to use all of their money on free agents. And as I have outlined multiple times on the show now, the Titans have an easy path to carve out 30 more million dollars of salary cap space. You cut Ligeria Sneed, that's 12 million dollars. You cut Tony Pollard, that's 7 million dollars.

You extend Jeffrey Simmons. That gets you to an extra 30 to 35 million dollars of salary cap space. So if the Titans make those three simple moves, which they should, should make, now they have 130, 135 million dollars of salary cap. You take on 30 million of that with Tua, you use 60 to 70 million dollars of cap space to sign 10 players, and now you still have 30 million dollars remaining to play with going into the season. It's literally so easy, so easy to navigate, the path is so clear. It would not be difficult at all. And if you want to talk about the Titans need players,

Titans need players. Well, getting the 43rd overall pick in the NFL draft is a good way to get a good player for cheap. So, I think this makes all the sense in the world for the Tennessee Titans. It makes sense for the dolphins to do this as well. The Titans are ideally suited to make this move. It would not prevent them from signing any of the free agents that they want to decide. They can use this cap space to be creative. And also, you've got to consider the fact that Brian Dable worked with Tewable.

when they were in college together at Alabama. So there was a connection there between the new offensive coordinator and between the quarterback and not only that but The Titans need a good backup quarterback Do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by TurboTax tax season doesn't have to take over your life This year turbo tax is making it easier than ever to just hand things off and move on with your day with turbo tax full service you can have your taxes done for you by a truck Did local expert start to finish without the stress or the guess work instead of spending hours trying to figure out your forms You can meet with a local turbo tax expert in person or connect online It's a huge time saver for a limited time you can have your taxes done by a local turbo tax expert for just a hundred and fifty dollars all in if a turbo tax expert didn't file for you last year Just file by February 28th take taxes off your plate

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Play your game with Fandle, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Fans, again, I think that the Tennessee Titans should trade for Tua. They can get a high-level draft pick in return. They have plenty of cap space to

absorb his salary. It won't prevent them from getting more players in free agency. They can make easy moves that we already expect them to make, to clear out enough space to make that deal. It makes all the same. sense in the world to reunite Brian Dable with two-up. There's a connection there, a relationship

there. There are so many things that make this make sense. But the last thing that I want to hit on quickly here is, the Titans need a good backup. They need a good backup quarterback. I have talked about that throughout the all season. The Titans can't have a Brandon Allen anymore. They need a legitimate good backup quarterback. If Cam Ward were to get banged up for a couple of weeks, knock on wood if Cam Ward were to get knocked out for a season or something. The Titans cannot afford to tank anymore. They need to start building up. We have dug the hole as low as it needs to go.

It's time to start building forward. We've torn this thing down to the foundation. Okay? So whether Cam is in there or not, the Titans need a backup quarterback that is capable of getting them some wins. And listen, Tua is not a good starting quarterback. We know that.

He is not a good enough starting quarterback. It's the truth. But he would be an excellent backup. Tua is going to be one of the best backups in the NFL for the rest of the time that he decides to play in the NFL. So, like, we've already talked about the reasons it doesn't hurt the Titans, the reason it can help the Titans, and it checks off a box that they need to check anyway,

which is to get a good backup quarterback, somebody who could come in and could see, win games for the team. I know that Tua is not a good starting quarterback. But again, we're talking about a guy who has gone to the playoffs, had multiple winning seasons in Miami. Everybody's in my comment saying you want Tireke Hill. Well, Tirek Hill's two best seasons in the NFL came with Tua at quarterback. So how can you say that Tyree Kill isn't washed and that he was good with Miami and say that, oh, Tua is a terrible quarterback and that's why Tiree Hill wasn't good the last few years. when the best two years of Tyree Kill's career were with Tula. So you could tell me, and I would agree,

that he is not a good starting quarterback in the NFL, but you can't sit here and say he's not a good backup. He would be an excellent backup. He's a fringe, bottom-level starter, excellent backup. So you reunite him with Brian Dable, where there's comfortability there. You get one of the best backup quarterbacks in the entire NFL. you get a high-level draft pick, which the Titans desperately need, and what does it cost you?

$30 million of cap space that you're not going to spend anyway? It just makes all the sense in the world. I know that it sounds crazy, but when you look at the facts and you look at the details and you truly examine the situation, it would be an absolute home run for the Tennessee Titans. Now, I want to reiterate before I get out of here that I do not think this is likely.

I do not think the Tennessee Titans do this. It's complicated. The NFL does not like salary dump trades like this, like the NBA accepts it. So they may be against it as well, but just looking at the nuts and the bolts of what it would entail, I mean, it's hard to argue that this wouldn't be an excellent move for the Tennessee Titans.

So trade for Tua. That's what I want to see. But with that being said, let me know how you feel about this crazy idea down below in the comments. I'm going to be back with you. guys later on tonight to break down the press conference of Brian Dable and Gus Bradley. So much to discuss. Thanks for tuning in.

That's going to do it for today's bonus edition. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Tight.