Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Trey Lance Trade Would Be Disastrous, Brady/Rodgers Scenarios & Draft Trade Options

Episode Date: January 19, 2023

The Tennessee Titans have an interesting decision at QB this offseason with many paths they could take. First, would the Titans consider trading for a young signal caller already in the NFL like Trey Lance, Jordan Love or Justin Fields? Next, with veteran QBs rumored to be on the move like Tom Brady, Derek Carr and Aaron Rodgers, is there a logical path to bringing them to Tennessee? Finally, if the Titans want to move up in the draft to get a rookie of their own, what could some deals look like? Tyler also explains why he thinks the path the Titans actually follow is the one they are already on!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt 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.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONUltimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, what should the Titans do at quarterback in 2023? I'll tell you why a trade for a young guy like Trey Lance would be a disaster. We'll also talk about the veteran quarterback options like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, and what would it look like if the Titans got their quarterback of the future in the draft. We'll discuss all of that and more 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. Titans fans, it is the quarterback episode. We are going to talk about all of the different paths the Titans have at quarterback in the 2023 all season. Let's start by talking about some of the young quarterbacks around the NFL that the Titans might be interested in. Before we dive into it, I want to let you know that today's show is brought to you by

LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. Also, thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round

on all platforms and always free. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. If you're on YouTube, hit that notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video right now. The content is free. All I ask in return is the press of a button. But diving in here with Rand Carthon's hire at GM, we got an interesting Instagram post from a young quarterback in Trey Lance in San Francisco. Now, obviously Brock Purdy has asserted himself as the starter in San Francisco. And based on how this playoff run works out for San Francisco, they could be looking to trade Trey Lance. And with that in mind, some Titans fans really took this Instagram post and ran with it. Ran with it? Oh, I can't help myself. But either way, it was a picture of Rand Carthon after he was hired by

the Titans and Trey Lance posted it with three fingers crossed emojis. Now we live in a social media age where stuff like this is analyzed and dissected. But at the end of the day, a lot of people in the Titans community took that as Trey Lance maybe hoping, fingers crossed, that Ran Carthon would be someone who would trade for him and bring him to Tennessee to be the Titans quarterback of the future.

Now, here's what I have to say. San Francisco gave up a lot to move up and get Trey Lance. But at the end of the day, they traded up to get Lance because they thought he was somebody who could win them a Super Bowl. If they find Brock Purdy and he can win them a Super Bowl, then at what point does San Francisco say,

hey, we may have paid a lot for Trey Lance, but we found the guy and found what we wanted elsewhere, so it's time to move on. So I get that there is a logical connection there. Rancard Thawne reportedly was somebody who pounded the table for Trey Lance or at least believed in him. And then you have that Instagram post, which depending on how you want to take that could mean a bunch of different things.

But here's my take on it. I think that trading for Trey Lance would be a disaster for the Titans. He's been injured a ton. The last thing that the Titans need is another injury-prone guy. And when he's played, the production really hasn't been what you were hoping to see from a top-three pick. He's had four starts. He's gone 2-2.

And San Francisco has a dynamite roster. He's only completed 54.9% of his passes, 797 passing yards, five touchdowns, three interceptions. He's taken six sacks. And with all that running ability that was a big part of his scout profile coming into the draft, he's only rushed for 235 yards in one rushing TD in the eight games that he actually got to play in. He was outplayed by Brock Purdy. That's just the reality. Brock Purdy has played better right now. And Brock Purdy was

Mr. Irrelevant the last pick in the draft so forgive me if I'm a little bit skeptical of Trey Lance and here's another point I want to make one of the biggest advantages of having a young quarterback on your team is the cap space you don't pay a Ryan Tannehill 36 million36 million on the cap. You get that rookie contract. Well, if the Titans trade for Trey Lance this all season, they're in year three of his rookie deal, so you're only going to get two years of that rookie contract before you have to give a fifth-year option,

consider extending. So you're going to pay a draft pick, probably a third or fourth-round pick, depending on how good Brock Purdy plays and how likely San Francisco's to get off of him. You're going to pay a draft pick, probably a third or fourth round pick, depending on how good Brock Purdy plays and how likely San Francisco's to get off of him, you're going to pay a draft pick, not get four full years of rookie contract play. And Trey Lance as a player hasn't really shown us anything to justify him being a top three pick at this time. I just think even though there's the Carthon connection there with San Francisco,

I think that would be a disaster. And similarly, Jordan Love from Green Bay, a lot of you guys talk about going out and getting him. Well, what would that be? A third or a fourth round pick again? And Love is another year further along than Trey Lance. So you get even less time on that rookie contract, even if he works out. So to me, both of those options, Love and Lance, don't make a lot of sense. Now, the other name that maybe some people are throwing out there, I think it's the least likely at all, but got to mention it, is Justin Fields. If the Bears decide they want to take one of the quarterbacks in the draft first overall, and they want to get off of Fields, maybe the Titans pop in there. I would imagine they would be looking for a second round pick, a third round pick at minimum. And the Bears aren't a great team,

but Fields is 5-20 as a starter. 59.7% completion percentage. He has thrown for 4,112 yards, 24 touchdowns, 21 interceptions. He's only thrown for over 200 yards twice in the entire last season. So, to me, these young guys have talent, but when you consider you've got to give up picks to get them, and you get only a few years of that rookie contract value, and none of these guys have proven that they're starting- level players anyway. We've seen little flashes here and there, but nothing that makes you think, oh yeah, that's a guy. Once he gets his chance, he's going to be good. There's nothing there

that leads me to be confident in that evaluation. So to me, I think trading for a young quarterback would be a disaster for the Titans. If you want a young quarterback that bad because you want to take advantage of the rookie scale contract and you want to get a fresh face in there, then just move up in the draft and do that. Just do that instead. If you're that hellbent on getting a young quarterback into the building. I don't think that trading for one of these guys who hasn't really panned out or hasn't got a shot

and not getting the full advantage of that rookie scale contract and getting a full four to five years to build around a quarterback with that contract, I just think it would be a mistake to do a half measure. To me, trading for one of these guys in the middle or at the end of their rookie scale deal would be a half step. And I don't think the Titans need to take half steps right now. They need to go full in if they want a young quarterback and just trade up in the draft and get one, whether you do it this year or you do it next year, either way. But this route where you trade draft capital

and you don't get the advantage of a full rookie scale deal, I just don't think that's the right move for the Titans. I think it would be a disastrous way to start the Rand Carthon era. So hoping they don't go that route, even if there are logical connections to be made. But with that in mind, we need to talk about some other NFL quarterbacks who could make sense for the Titans. The veteran group, Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, Derek Carr. I'm going to go through the viability of them joining the Titans and talk

about the realities of the salary cap and why some of these guys just don't make a lot of sense. But before we get into that, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Look, LinkedIn Jobs is the fastest way to post your job and get the right candidates that you want to hire. You can quickly attract qualified candidates to your open jobs with targeting tools. They have screening questions. They have ranking systems available to you. So you can really manage all of your candidates and prioritize the ones that you like the most. Go beyond resume data and use insights for your job posts that are provided by LinkedIn jobs. LinkedIn jobs makes it easy to find the candidates that you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL.

That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. Terms and conditions do apply. Titans fans, let's continue today's quarterback edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about some of the young NFL players who the Titans could target. I don't think that's a good choice. But now I want to talk about some of the older quarterbacks in the NFL that the Titans have been rumored to be interested in. Before we get into it, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen.

Every day at the end of the show, I'm going to talk about the draft and what the Titans could do to go up and get a quarterback in the draft. I'm going to talk about the draft and what the Titans could do to go up and get a quarterback in the draft. Do want to remind you guys tomorrow, you're going to get a bonus episode of the Locked on Titans podcast, breaking down Rand Carthon's opening press conference as the Titans GM.

That'll take place Friday afternoon. I'll be breaking everything down for you guys on Friday night with the quotes, my takeaways, all of that. So you don't want to miss that bonus episode. Make sure you stay locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast. But with that in mind, we got to talk about these older quarterbacks. So I said, I'm not interested in the young quarterback trade. I would be more interested in getting one of these older veterans, but I got to tell you guys, I don't think it's very likely at all. Number one, we talked about Tom Brady earlier this week.

Look, there is a possibility, let's say, that Mike Rabel contacts one of his better friends, Tom Brady, and says, hey, we're going to cut Tannehill. You come on a cheap deal, $10 million, $15 million, something like that. We'll cut Tannehill. We'll use all the money that we possibly can to fix the offensive line. We'll put as many draft picks as you want to the offense. Come here, pick your offensive coordinator,

and give us your last year, give it one more run with your buddy Mike Vrabel. It's possible. I don't think it's likely. I think it's much more likely that he goes to somewhere like the Raiders, with Josh McDaniels and Devontae Adams and Darren Waller. I think that

now, I'm not going to say that Tom Brady wouldn't come to Tennessee, and that's a complete impossibility because, well, who could really say that? But I do just want to say I don't think that it's super likely. And the reality here is what would Brady want to play for? Because if they cut Ryan Tannehill, it's $18 million in dead cap if they cut him before June 1st. It's $9 million in dead cap if they cut him before June the 1st. It's $9 million in dead cap if they cut him after June the 1st.

Now we've seen the Titans execute post 6-1 cuts. They did that with Julio Jones so they use up all the money that they have and then when June 1st comes they get a splash of cap space that they can use to sign their draft class make any additions during the summer.

So it is a possibility that the Titans would go that route, but I just don't think it's likely. And with Rand Carthon in, I don't know that his first move is, hey, we're going to give over the franchise to Tom Brady. Not impossible, but just not likely. Okay, not likely. Now, it's the cleanest fit out of all the veteran quarterbacks.

Like, it makes, it's the easiest to make happen if you're playing Madden or whatever. You know what I mean? So, from that standpoint, I get why someone would say that it is possible. And it is. It is possible. You can't rule it out. I just don't think it's very likely. Now, the one that's the most illogical and the least likely, quite honestly,

I hate to be so harsh here, but it's stupid. If anybody tells you that the Titans should go get Derek Carr, looking at you CJ2K, man, that dude needs to listen to the Locked on Titans podcast, but Derek Carr makes zero sense. Number one,

you get rid of Ryan Tannehill, $18 million in dead cap. Derek Carr isn't going to play for a discount deal like a 46-year-old Tom Brady would. Carr is going to want his $30, $35 million, $25 million a year. And when you take Ryan Tannehill's dead cap of $18 and you add $, 25 million. Now you're talking about paying 45, 50 million dollars for your quarterback spot. So you're going to pay 10, 12 million more dollars

to upgrade from Tannehill to Derek Carr. Even if you think Derek Carr is an upgrade over Tannehill, which I don't. I don't see an upgrade there at all. Personally, I don't think Derek Carr is much better than Ryan Tannehill, which I don't. I don't see an upgrade there at all, personally. I don't think Derek Carr is much better than Ryan Tannehill in any way. I'd take Tannehill, personally. But even if you're somebody who thinks Derek Carr is better than Ryan Tannehill, is he $13 million better?

Is it worth going from $38, $40 million to $50 million spent on your quarterback position to go from Tannehill to Derek Carr? No. It doesn't make any sense at all. Okay? It's literally the most illogical thing that I have heard the entire offseason is people saying the Titans should get Derek Carr. It makes no sense at all.

Zero. So throwing that out the window. Boom. See ya. Hope we that out the window. Boom. See ya. Hope we never see it again. Okay? The next one, though. And look.

At first, when I looked at this, I was like, this makes no sense. This is not happening. But, there is a logical path here. And it's Aaron Rodgers. Now, follow me, because we're going to get deep in the weeds of the cap. The Packers, we got to look at the Packers' financial situation, okay? If the Packers just cut Aaron Rodgers in February like a lot of cuts happen, that'd be $99 million of dead cap.

They're not doing that, okay? That's absurd. Aaron Rodgers ain't getting released as a pre-6-1 designation, okay? Not happening, all right? But, but, if the Titans were to cut Ryan Tannehill as a post-June 1st cut, his dead cap goes from $18 million to $9 million. $9 million, very manageable dead cap, okay?

If the Packers were to trade Aaron Rodgers, not cut, not release, trade Aaron Rodgers after June 1st, Aaron Rodgers' dead cap would only be $15 million for the Packers, which is incredibly manageable when you have Jordan Love still on his rookie contract. Now, they would have $24 million in dead cap in 2024, but again, Jordan Love is going to be cheaper than a normal veteran quarterback would be. So, I don't think it's likely because of the Packers situation.

They can't do anything before June 1st or Rodgers' $99 million in dead cap if he's cut and $75 million, I believe, if he's traded before June 1st. But let's say the Titans and the Packers agree to a trade for Aaron Rodgers in February. And the Titans say, okay, we agree on a trade. I'm going to cut Ryan Tannehill with a post-June 1st. And just so you guys know, if you're confused, June 1st is the beginning of the new league year.

So that changes the cap structure of guys' deals at that time. It's like going from 2022 to 2023. That's why there's a difference there. So if you designate Ryan Tannehill, which the Titans did this with Julio Jones last year, you designate Ryan Tannehill as a post-June 1st cut, you don't get any of his cap savings until after June 1st. But when that happens, you save $27 million.

Tannehill only leaves you $9 million in dead cap. Then you trade for Aaron Rodgers, who if you look at Aaron Rodgers' contract structure, his salary is like $1 million the next few years. Well, the Titans would trade for him, instantly do an extension to smooth out the money and get Aaron Rodgers in a better deal that makes more sense. And now, you have Aaron Rodgers for the same cap hit that you had Tannehill for.

So, not likely. Not saying that's what's going to happen. But out of Tom Brady, Derek Carr, and Aaron Rodgers, and I can already hear people saying Aaron Rodgers, he won MVP two years in a row just a season ago. Okay? Let's relax. To steal a phrase from Aaron, let's relax.

I'm calling Aaron Rodgers a bum. Okay? I'm not willing to go there. But, out of all these moves, I got gotta say, trading for Aaron Rodgers after June 1st and designating Ryan Tannehill as a post-June 1st cut,

that surprisingly makes the most sense out of all these veteran quarterback options. It does. So, that's not my choice is to go that route. I'm going to get into what I think the Titans will do. But if that's a route you want to go, Aaron Rodgers probably makes the most sense. And just saying right now,

BetOnline has Aaron Rodgers as plus 500 to go to the Titans if he doesn't play for Green Bay next year, the second best odds of any team. They're saying the whispers are out there. But with that in mind, we got to talk about the next option, and that's drafting a quarterback, moving up in the draft, maybe sitting put, depending on who you want in the draft,

to get the quarterback of the future. Before we get into that, I do want to let you know that the best protein bars in the galaxy are Built Bars from our friends over at Built.com. Look, it's the best of both worlds with a protein bar. You get all the health benefits of a protein bar. You get low calorie, low sugar, high protein, high fiber, but you get all the taste benefits of a candy bar because all the bars are covered in 100% real chocolate. And they have some fantastic flavors like the brownie batter. They have my favorite, the white chocolate crunch. I mean, oh my lord.

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I promise you, you can thank me later. Check them out at Built.com or again, at your local Walmart or Sam's Club. Titans fans, let's cap off the quarterback edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about trading for a young guy. We talked about getting an older guy. Now I want to talk about the rookies. And I'm going to tell you guys what I think the Titans will do this season.

But before we get into that, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms and always free. But as for your second listen, you get all your Titans news here with me. Now get all your NFL news with the Locked On NFL podcast. I'm the Thursday host of Locked On NFL. So going over to Locked On NFL and subscribing would not only help yourself be more informed about the NFL, but you'd be showing me some support as well.

So I would appreciate it. Locked on NFL. Make sure you check it out on all platforms. It's Monday through Friday and free, just like the Locked on Titans podcast. But with that being said, the draft. So if the Titans wanted to trade up to number one,

whether it be for Stroud, whether it be for Young, whether it be, hold your ears everybody, Levis. Okay, regardless, I think what the Titans would be looking at there is they'd have to give up pick number 11, their first round pick this year, of course, guaranteed. They'd have to give up their next year's first round pick in 2024. I think that they'd have to give up their next year's first round pick in 2024. I think that they'd have to give up their second round pick in 2023, their third round pick in 2024,

and probably another pick like a third or a fourth this year to go from 11 all the way up to number one. So if you look at like the trade value charts that NFL teams historically use to make these draft trades, the number one pick in the draft this year is about 3,000 points. Number 11 is about 1,280. Next year's first is about 1,000. So you're looking at about 2,300 at that point.

480 for the Titans' second round pick this year. You're looking at about 2,700 at this point. A next year third round pick is 190. So now you're about 100 off. And then you add in a late round pick, a fifth round pick, something like that. Anywhere from third to fourth. And now you're over 3,000. And now the value is there.

Maybe you get a pick back from the other team to really balance it out. But either way, that's the kind of haul that the Bears would be getting for the number one pick. I just think that's too expensive for the Titans. Now, if Mike Rabel and Rand Carthon watch the tape and they say, oh my God, CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, Will Levis, they're going to be the best quarterback of all time. They're going to be our franchise quarterback for the next decade. We're going to get them no matter what. I'll be on board Levis. They're going to be the best quarterback of all time. They're going to be our franchise quarterback for the next decade. We're going to get them no matter what. I'll be on board with that because I'm going to believe in the decisions

these guys are making until I don't. Until I see evidence that I shouldn't. Call me a hopeful fan. Not a lot of people would call me a hopeful Titans fan, but you can call me that, but I would trust the decision until it's proven wrong. Because what else are we going to do? Just hate our new number one overall pick forever? Doesn't make any sense. So to me, that's too expensive though. This Titans team isn't so

close that they can go up and do that. Okay. That's something that I think they should consider doing next year after they've had two off seasons, this off season and next off season with free agency and cuts and all that to build the roster to where, hey, if you plop in a number one overall rookie, now you can actually get something done. I just don't think that they're there right now to count on a guy like that.

So to me, that would be too expensive of a trade. Now, if you don't want to do something like that, you could potentially trade up into the top five to get the third quarterback off the board. Let's say Stroud goes one. I think Indianapolis is trading up to number one. It's like the worst kept secret in the NFL right now is they're going to go up to number one in front of Houston. So Indy, and that makes perfect sense for the Bears. They can drop back to number four. Maybe the quarterbacks go one, two, three, and then the Bears have the best defensive player in the draft at pick number four. So this could work out great for the Bears.

I think the Colts offer would beat the Titans offer anyways if they both offered enough because then the Bears only have to go back to four. So either way, let's look at, let's say the Titans go back to pick number five. Okay, let's say Stroud go back to pick number five. Okay. Let's say Stroud and Young go one and two. Then you have Jalen Carter and Will Anderson go three and four. And now you're looking at pick number five, which is Detroit or Detroit's at six. Seattle is at five.

So you want to trade up in front of Detroit who may want a quarterback of the future. Okay. Well, now you're looking at pick number five is about 1700 points. The Titans number 11 is 1250. You add in next year's first round pick, which gets you to about 2250. The other team gives you another pick back to balance out the scales. And now you have a little bit of a deal. All you're giving up is the future first. You don't have to give up a bunch of picks in this draft and a bunch of mid-round picks. That would make a little more sense. You go up, you get Will Levis, Anthony Richardson, and guys. If you don't like any of those quarterbacks, great.

But you aren't picking them. So you could hate Will Levis and hate Anthony Richardson and tell me how much you thought those guys were bums in college, but you don't get to pick them. So who's to say that the Titans don't like one of them and go up and do it? Okay? So that would be something that they could do, get in front of Detroit.

I think a trade up to number eight could make a lot of sense. You jump in front of Carolina and you make a trade with Atlanta, who obviously there are connections between the organizations there. Now Atlanta's pick is only 1,400. So you give up your number 11 and a third-round pick. 11 and a third-round pick to move up to number eight. Draft Anthony Richardson, draft Will Levis, if they fall that far. That is not as insane. And I do want to mention, Rand Carthon went to Florida.

saying. And I do want to mention, Rand Carthon went to Florida. And Rand Carthon put out a tweet last college football season, not the one we just had, but the one before in 2021. And he was giving some praise to Anthony Richardson. And he would have insight

and intel into who Richardson is as a person. So maybe if the Titans like Richardson and want to go that route, in my opinion, Richardson is just a more developed Malik Willis. He's like Malik Willis in the sense that he's got natural talent,

natural raw ability, but not a lot of polish, not a lot of experience. So it would basically be like doing a first round version of Malik Willis who's further along in his development. I'm not saying I want that to happen, but I'm just saying it's logical.

It would be less expensive and the Titans could still get that young quarterback of the future that they can develop. Or they could just stick at number 11 and maybe Richardson falls there, but I don't think Levis, Young, or Stroud are going to fall that far. So those are the options. I think that's kind of my general idea of what trade packages could look like. We'll get a clearer picture as we move closer to the draft and we start hearing more reports about what teams are looking for. The last thing that I want to say here is what I think will happen. And I think the Titans are going to roll into the season with Tannehill.

We're getting reports now, whispers out there, that one of the big reasons Amy Adams Strunk hired Rand Carthon is because he said he didn't think the Titans needed to rebuild. He thinks that he could retool the roster and get them right back to contention. That doesn't sound like a guy who's going to cut Ryan Tannehill and go with Josh Dobbs, Malik Willis, trade up for a young quarterback. That doesn't sound like what the Titans are looking to do this season. So to me, we go through all these options. There are some valid options.

There are some options I think are ridiculous. But at the end of the day, in my opinion, I think the Titans stick with Ryan Tannehill one more year, let his contract go out much more peacefully on the cap than happen to cut him this year with 18 million dead. They keep Malik Willis. They keep Josh Dobbs around. They let those two guys at the end battle it out.

And if Malik Willis isn't good enough yet and didn't progress enough, they're going to cut him and go with Josh Dobbs and Ryan Tannehill into the season. That's what I think will happen. But those are the options that the Titans have. You guys let me know down below what your favorite option is. Remember, I'm going to be breaking down the Rand Carthon intro press conference

in a bonus Locked on Titans episode tomorrow at about 6 p.m. on the YouTube channel. That'll get uploaded to the podcast feed afterwards as well. So make sure that you guys don't miss that. That's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.