Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Trading Ryan Tannehill More Likely, DeAndre Hopkins Pros & Cons for Titans

Episode Date: May 29, 2023

The Tennessee Titans starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been in trade rumors all offseason and while those have quieted at this point in the summer, a big contract situation out west may change that. Tyler explains why. Next, go over the Pros and Cons of a DeAndre Hopkins signing for the Titans.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Titans fans, there is a developing situation out west that could make a Ryan Tannehill trade more likely than ever. I'll explain what's going on on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. 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.

We got a lot to talk about on today's show. Number one, there's a developing injury situation out west that could significantly increase the chances that Ryan Tannehill is traded. I'll explain what it is. Plus, we'll go over the pros and the cons of signing DeAndre Hopkins. So a lot to discuss on today's show. Do want to let you guys know that I appreciate you making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen.

Every day, remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on YouTube, your favorite podcast app all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there as well. Got a great week planned for you tomorrow.

We are going to do a preview of Titans open practice on Wednesday, and then I'll follow that up with a recap of everything that you need to know from Titans practice on Wednesday. And then I'll follow that up with a recap of everything that you need to know from Titans practice on Wednesday. So the next two days, all about Titans practice. Can't wait to dive into it. Make sure that you guys don't miss the content coming your way. Throw a thumbs up on the video right now if you're watching. Hit the notification bell.

With that being said, we got to talk about this situation developing out west with the Las Vegas Raiders. So number one, what we know is that Jimmy G was supposed to be the Raiders quarterback this year. He was given a free agent contract by the Raiders to be their starting quarterback. They let Jared Stidham go to the Broncos. They let Derek Carr go in a release and they replaced him with Jimmy Garoppolo. So that is the expectation. But some news broke and you got to give some credit to Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk. He was the one who I saw break the news. There's an issue with Jimmy Garoppolo's foot. Apparently, Jimmy Garoppolo has not been able to pass a physical because of a foot injury that knocked him out last season. And there is some concern that Jimmy Garoppolo will not be able to overcome the foot injury. So far, what we've heard is that because of the foot injury, the Raiders and Garoppolo have totally reworked the contract with no guaranteed money so that the Raiders can back out of

the contract if Garoppolo doesn't pass a physical. Why does this matter for Ryan Tannehill? It's because the Raiders need to win now. And if Garoppolo is out of the picture due to injury, then the Raiders are a prime candidate to trade for Ryan Tannehill. Look at their quarterback depth chart right now. Brian Hoyer. Brian Hoyer is 37 years old.

Aiden O'Connell, a late-round draft pick in the fourth round out of, I believe it was Purdue. Chase Garbers as an undrafted free agent. Look at the Raiders' depth chart. Devontae Adams, they signed Jacoby Myers. Hunter Renfro. They bring in Keelan Cole,

Phillip Dursett, DeAndre Carter. All of these players, they draft Trey Tucker out of Cincinnati. They have Austin Hooper and Michael Mayer at tight end. This team is positioned to win right away. They want to win now and Josh McDaniels as the head coach needs to win right now. So if Jimmy Garoppolo is too injured to play

is too injured to pass a physical and sign a contract, then the Raiders will be calling the Titans right away about Ryan Tannehill. And this, guys, this is what I always said about the Ryan Tannehill trade after the draft. If Ryan Tannehill is going to get traded, it is going to be to a team that is in one of

two situations. Number one, their starting quarterback gets hurt during the training camp one of two situations. Number one, their starting quarterback gets hurt during the training camp or preseason phase. Number two, one of these young quarterbacks doesn't produce, whether it be Desmond Ritter in Atlanta, Sam Howell in Washington, maybe Baker Mayfield gets hurt or Kyle Trask disappoints in Tampa Bay. Those are the options that the Titans have.

An injury to a starting quarterback or one of these young quarterbacks just not playing very well. Those are the only options. Well, here we go already. An injury situation with a team that needs to win. Josh McDaniels may get fired if the Raiders have a bad season after he forced Derek Carr out,

who's been with the team for so long, and then comes in, makes all these big changes, and loses again, Josh McDaniels cannot afford to have another losing season. So this is the exact circumstance where a trade for Ryan Tannehill would make sense. Now, I've been a proponent all long since Will Levis was drafted. I had been a proponent before Will Levis was drafted. You either go with Malik Willis, or now, you

go with Will Levis. See what you got in the rookie. This team isn't winning this year. They're not going to win anything substantial. Mike Vrabel has to know that based on the roster. So, if an opportunity arises to trade Ryan Tannehill, get draft picks back.

Get draft picks back from last year. I mean, the Titans don't have a, you know, off the top of my head, it's a sixth rounder, a fifth rounder, a third rounder. The Titans are missing draft capital next year. So if you could get some draft capital back by trading Ryan Tannehill to the Raiders, and then you start Will Levis, get to see what you have in the rookie,

and put yourself probably in a better position to get a better draft pick next year, whether it be one of the quarterbacks, whether it be Marvin Harrison Jr., that would be a perfect situation for all involved. So I don't think I'm going to cap it all off with this. I don't think it's likely. It's not likely that Ryan Tannehill gets traded,

but it's more likely now than it was before because Jimmy Garoppolo's situation is something that you've got to watch in Las Vegas. So if Garoppolo is unable to play this year, Tannehill makes a ton of sense. And the guys there are New England guys who may feel more comfortable working with Mike Vrabel. So that's my thoughts on it. It's more likely.

It doesn't mean it is likely. But still, to me, I want to see him go with Will Levis, get some draft capital back from a trade of Ryan Tannehill. I think that would be an ideal situation for the Titans. But with that being said, I think it's unlikely that Tannehill gets traded. And since we're moving past that, we need to talk more about the DeAndre Hopkins deal.

Yesterday on the show, my everydayers will know, we talked about how the Titans can get DeAndre Hopkins from a financial standpoint. We talked about why he would come here, why he wouldn't go to the Titans. Well, now I'm going to break down the good and the bad that could come along with bringing DeAndre Hopkins to Nashville. Before we get into that,

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go to built.com and check out a pack of the best tasting protein bars of all time. Built Bars, you will thank me later. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about why a Ryan Tannehill trade is more likely than ever after the situation with Jimmy Garoppolo in Las Vegas. Now we're going to transition. Talk about the pros and the cons

of signing DeAndre Hopkins. We're going to start with the pros here. What are the good things that could come with a DeAndre Hopkins signing? Before we get into it, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day.

Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on YouTube and your favorite podcast app always for free. Get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Every

dayers, get excited. Tomorrow is a preview of Tennessee Titans practice on Wednesday, and then the very next show that I have for you guys is a recap of everything that happened at Titans practice on Wednesday. You're not going to want to miss the content I have for you guys coming up this week. But with that being said,

time to dive into the DeAndre Hopkins pros. What are the pros of a DeAndre Hopkins signing? Well, number one, there's no better place to start than winning. The Titans will be a significantly better team if they have DeAndre Hopkins on the team. Look, in an episode, my everydayers are going to catch this, but in an episode in the future, I'm going to do what happens if the Titans win.

Like what needs to happen for the Titans to win in a way that not a lot of us are expecting, in a big way. Well, one of the things that could really help that is a DeAndre Hopkins signing, because this team, the offensive line, it's possible. I wouldn't say likely, but it's definitely possible

that the offensive line could be good. There's a chance that the offensive line could be significantly improved. If Dillard hits, if Brunskill hits, if Skowronski is the player you expect him to be, if Brewer is better at center than he was at guard, if Nicholas Petit-Ferrer is better in his second year when he has better help around him with better offensive coordination, there is a real chance that the Titans' offensive line is better.

Not to mention, Tannehill, healthy, with a better offensive line, should be better. I think Derrick Henry is still Derrick Henry. You give him good blocking, he's going to give you more than he gave you last year, and that was 1,500 rushing yards and a career year in receiving stats. Receiving yards catches. So, if you were to sure up wide receiver and add DeAndre Hopkins

to a potential offensive line that could be improved to an improved Ryan Tannehill who's not injured to what you have with Derrick Henry and then the defense takes care of business the way we know the Titans defense can the Titans defense can carry you to wins. They've done it before. So if you get that and you add in Hopkins,

the Titans' chances to win football games, simple as that, to win football games, significantly improved with DeAndre Hopkins than without DeAndre Hopkins. There's no way to argue against that. The Titans will win more games this year if they have DeAndre Hopkins as compared to if they don't have DeAndre Hopkins. There's no way to argue against that. The Titans will win more games this year if they have DeAndre Hopkins as compared to if they don't have DeAndre Hopkins. It is that simple. Now, the second pro that I want to get into, winning is the first pro. The second pro

is the Titans have a very young wide receiver group. Kyle Phillips, Traylon Burks, both in their second year. Even Racey McMath, Mason Kinsey, Reggie Roberson, Jacob Copeland, Kieran Jackson, Colton Dow. I mean, even Nick Westbrook-Akene. All of these guys could really, really, really benefit from a guy like DeAndre Hopkins, a savvy vet who's never won with explosive athleticism. He's a freak athlete, don't get me wrong,

but he's not like Tyreek Hill explosive or he doesn't have the same athletic profile of a Justin Jefferson or a DK Metcalf or an AJ Brown. Hopkins is a smooth, savvy guy who understands all the little intricacies of playing wide receiver. He knows how to set up defensive backs. He knows how to read coverages, tells from cornerbacks, all that stuff. DeAndre Hopkins could teach and help and give and push the wisdom forward for the Titans' young wide receivers. It could be huge in the development of the Titans' wide receivers.

So that's the second pro. The third pro for DeAndre Hopkins, and I think this may be the biggest one of them all, the Titans need to improve their reputation with wide receivers. It was never good before, and the offense doesn't do you any favors when it comes to your reputation with wide receivers around the league. when it comes to your reputation with wide receivers around the league.

Then you have, of course, the A.J. Brown trade, which I think really made an impact on how players see the Titans. Wait, these guys traded A.J. Brown? What the heck? I think the A.J. Brown trade the biggest impact more than even winning games the biggest impact the A.J. Brown trade had was the Titans reputation with players around the NFL

so Hopkins choosing to come to the Titans and having a good season could really get the Titans in a much better place reputation wise. That's something that I think about a lot.

Why would any wide receiver want to come to Tennessee and if the Titans ever want to get a free agent wide receiver they're going to have or trade for a wide receiver and give them an extension. They're going to have to pay more than other teams because players now look at Tennessee as a place to die if you're a wide receiver,

or a place a wide receiver doesn't want to be. A.J. Brown left, quit getting hurt, and immediately set the single-season receiving yards record in Philadelphia and went to the Super Bowl. The Titans' reputation with players in the NFL, especially at wide receiver, was damaged by the A.J. Brown trade. And they need something to happen

to flip that narrative back a little bit more. Okay? And I think signing a big name player like DeAndre Hopkins, and then Hopkins having a good season, I think that could flip the narrative, change the narrative for the Titans with players. So, winning games,

helping the young wide receivers grow, and saving the Titans' reputation around the NFL with wide receivers. Those are three major pros to signing DeAndre Hopkins. But of course, and I see a lot of you guys in the comments right now who are not excited about DeAndre Hopkins, who don't want DeAndre Hopkins, all that. Well, the next segment is for you because we are going to talk about all of the potential cons

that come with signing DeAndre Hopkins. So we're going to talk about that in just a second. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about Ryan Tannehill and a potential trade with the Las Vegas Raiders based on Jimmy Garoppolo's medical situation. We talked about all the pros for the Titans

for signing DeAndre Hopkins, but now we got to get into the cons. What are the downsides of signing DeAndre Hopkins? Before we get into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on YouTube, your favorite podcast app, and always for free. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now.

It helps support the channel, and I definitely do appreciate it. But with that being said, let's get into some of the cons with DeAndre Hopkins. And I see some of you guys in the comments. Mitchell says, you're dreaming, Tyler. I didn't say he was going to sign with the Titans. I said on yesterday's show, my everydayers will know, I said yesterday, I think it's very unlikely

that the Titans signed DeAndre Hopkins. I don't think he's coming to Tennessee. I wrote an article about why I don't think he's coming to Tennessee. So, I'm not saying that he is. But we got to talk about the pros and the cons of if he would. So, we talked about the pros, now I want to get to the cons. Number one,

it's the same old, same old, old wide receiver risk. We have seen it before, Titans fans, haven't we? The Titans get a wide receiver, pass their prime, in their 30s, give them decent money, and they're a shell of themselves. And with Hopkins,

10 games, 9 games, the last two seasons, 700 yards, 500 yards the last two seasons, he has declined significantly from a statistical standpoint over the last two years.

He got popped for PEDs. He's been injured. Yeah, bolted in beard says Andre Johnson. Randy Moss. Andre Johnson. Julio Jones. I mean, it's happened. It's okay if you have PTSD from something like that.

And look, while Hopkins may be in a different place and you got to add context and all that, there's still the major risk because they would have to give him a decent contract. So it's just the old wide receiver risk and that's one of the cons here. That's one of the downsides.

The Titans could be right back in the same exact place that they've been with old wide receivers. Oh, I can tell Alex is an Eagles fan. Nate Washington was good for the Titans. What are you even talking about? But anyways, moving right along. Outside of just the general risk of an old wide receiver, the future money.

The financial situation. Because not only would the Titans be giving money to DeAndre Hopkins, and I think it would be like an Odell Beckham contract, where there's a ton of void years, and the bonus is spread out throughout like five seasons, even though it's only a one-year contract, if the Titans do that, they have to eat all the remaining bonus money

that's spread out next year. So like the Ravens gave Odell Beckham $15 million, but next year the Ravens got to eat an $11 million dead cap because of the way they spread out the contract with void years. So, you would be, to even sign DeAndre Hopkins, not only would you be giving yourself dead money in the future for Hopkins, but what you would have to do to make it happen, you would have to restructure some contracts.

Bayard, Henry, Landry, Tannehill. You would have to do some extensions. You would have to do some moves that would require you to push money into the future. So not only are you taking a big dead hit on Hopkins in the future, but you're going to have to push money with some other guys that penalizes you in the future as well. And right now the Titans are going young. They want to have their cap space in 2024 and 2025. So I just, I just think it's a major financial risk, not major, but it's a financial risk

and you're sacrificing your future freedom to give Hopkins a contract. And that's a major con here. So we have the risk of an old wide receiver. We have the financial risk for the Titans of pushing money into the future. And like we talked about in the last one,

the Titans' reputation. If Hopkins comes to Tennessee and doesn't have a good time, if Hopkins comes to Tennessee and it doesn't go well, it's just going to solidify the reputation

that the Titans are a terrible place for wide receivers, which honestly, it's true. It's true. And the Titans can't afford any more bad press at wide receiver. They can't. So that is a major con here. You have the risk of Hopkins just being an old wide receiver. You have the financial penalties if you push money into the future

to make this happen. And then you hurt your reputation even more. So there are major downsides here to the DeAndre Hopkins situation, even if the Titans sign him. The pros, of course, winning, young wide receiver group, and the Titans' reputation could get better. The cons, he's an old wide receiver with a lot of risk,

future money that you're sacrificing, and it could hurt your reputation even more if it doesn't go well. So, with that being said, that's going to do it for me today, folks. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow to preview Titans OTAs on Wednesday. Very excited for that. And then, of course, I'll be back on Wednesday night on YouTube, Thursday morning for the podcast crowd

to break down everything you need to know from practice on Wednesday as well. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.