Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Titans officials shouldn’t be celebrating the new CBA. The new rules will make it extremely difficult for Tennessee to re-sign their two biggest stars.
The Titans made a strong playoff run behind the offensive leadership of Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry last year. Unfortunately for fans in Nashville, the new CBA will make it almost impossible for the franchise to recreate that sort of magic in 2020.
The new agreement will restrict teams to just using one single franchise tag this offseason. The old rules would have allowed franchises to use a franchise and transition tag. In essence, that would have allowed the Titans to potentially control both Tannehill and Henry. The new CBA means Tennessee will need to choose between their offensive stars.
At the moment, the tea leaves seem to indicate that the Titans are prepared to choose Henry. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network recently reported that Tennessee officials planned to re-sign the running back at a “big number.”
Tennessee could accomplish that by signing Henry to a long-term extension without the use of a franchise tag. It’s highly unlikely the Titans can get that done in such a short amount of time. That means the most likely outcome is that the team will initially place the franchise tag on Henry while continuing to work with his representatives on a long-term deal.
If that happens, Tannehill is going to waltz right into free agency. That’s bad news for the Titans and great news for the quarterback’s bank account. He revived his career last season in Nashville in a big way. Quite a few teams will be interested in paying him big money to be their starter in 2020.
It will be almost impossible for Tennessee to win a bidding war for Tannehill’s services. Instead, the franchise would be forced to shop the free agent and trade market for a new starter for a second consecutive season. That’s not an enviable position for a team that believes they are a good quarterback away from a Super Bowl run.
In the end, the new CBA is good news for the continuation of NFL operations for the next decade, but it’s bad news for the Titans’ hopes of making another deep playoff run in 2020. The agreement drastically increases the chances that Tannehill will be plying his trade elsewhere next season.