The biggest question heading into the 2023 offseason for the Tennessee Titans will be what the team decides to do at the quarterback position moving forward.

Current starter Ryan Tannehill is heading into his age 35 season and coming off of a down season and an ankle surgery. While Tannehill was not surrounded with much help on the offensive side of the ball and the Titans surrendered the 5th most sacks in the NFL, Tannehill did not play his best football down the stretch, leaving questions about whether or not he will be worth the big cap hit he carries into next season.

2023 will be the final year of Tannehill's big four-year contract with Tennessee. Should he be cut by the Titans prior to June 1st, the team can save $17.8 million against the salary cap for the season. Should they designate Tannehill to be cut after June 1st, Tennessee would save a total of $27 million.

While that amount of financial flexibility is certainly hard to pass on, recent comments from Tennessee Titans General Manager Ran Carthon may actually point to the Titans hanging on to Tannehill for one more year.

Carthon appeared on Green Light, a podcast hosted by former NFL defensive end Chris Long shortly after he was hired by the Titans. Long and Carthon discussed the quarterback position, Brock Purdy's cinderella run with the 49ers, and the specific physical traits Carthon values most in a quarterback.

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"I like anticipatory passers," said Carthon. "You've got some guys that can get the ball out quick, they know where the spot is, they can get it there accurately. Anticipation and accuracy. I think those two attributes for a quarterback may help them overcome some physical limitations they may have. You don't have to have the strongest arm if you can get it out early and get it out accurately."

Carthon added that having a tough quarterback under center is incredibly value to a team's morale and consistency.

"Then just overall toughness. Both mental and physical. Playing that position takes a toll on you over an 18 week regular season," said Carthon, who wants his quarterbacks to have some "grit" to them.

So Carthon's list of desirable quarterback attributes: Anticipation, accuracy, and toughness. Sound familiar, doesn't it?

Even in a down season in 2022, Ryan Tannehill ranked third among starting quarterbacks in aggressiveness according to NextGen Stats (NGS). NGS tracks the amount of passing attempts a quarterback makes that are into tight coverage, where there is a defender within one yard or less of the receiver at the time of completion or incompletion.

Tannehill was forced to throw with aggression and anticipation last season because his wide receivers rarely created significant separation.

This is reflected in Completions Above Expected (CAE) by NGS, which shows the difference in a quarterback's completion percentage compared to the their expected completion percentage by using Completion Probability given separation. Tannehill ranked amongst the Top 10 starting QBs in CAE in 2022.

He's also about as tough as they come. For all the hype surrounding Patrick Mahomes' big-time performance in the AFC Championship Game playing on a high ankle sprain, it seems lost on most NFL fans that Tannehill fought through the same injury for a majority of the season. Tannehill played in seven games after spraining his right ankle against the Colts in late October and has been consistently praised by Mike Vrabel and his Titans teammates for his toughness and resilience.

If Carthon is truly looking for a QB that throws with anticipation, accuracy, and has the toughness the play hard through injury, he'll likely be happy with what Tannehill brings to the table. He does not have the strongest arm or the most explosive speed, but excels in the areas that mean the most to the Titans' new GM.

That could lead to one last dance in Tennessee for Tannehill next season.

Image via George Walker IV / Tennessean.com-USA TODAY NETWORK