Recent report links Titans to Ravens QB Lamar Jackson
The fallout from the Baltimore Ravens-Lamar Jackson standoff has officially reached the Tennessee Titans. Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, several NFL executives have cited the Titans as a team that makes sense for the former MVP quarterback. He said as much on a recent episode of Sportscenter. And then when you talk about good fits, I […]
The fallout from the Baltimore Ravens-Lamar Jackson standoff has officially reached the Tennessee Titans.
Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, several NFL executives have cited the Titans as a team that makes sense for the former MVP quarterback. He said as much on a recent episode of Sportscenter.
And then when you talk about good fits, I asked some executives around the league what teams would make sense. They mention Tennessee, who just cleared some cap space. They have a new GM Ran Carthon, who's working on the roster. They could use a running quarterback [and] they have experience with that in the past. – ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, via Sportscenter
Per Over The Cap, the Titans currently have just under $15 million in cap space. They recently opened up $9.35 million through the release of Bud Dupree, which is probably the context Fowler is referring to when he says they "just cleared some cap space".
That's more than enough to afford Jackson on a new contract – with new contract being the operative phrase, here. The Titans can drastically minimize the Year 1 cap hit by giving Jackson a long-term deal, which would obviously be a requirement in a hypothetical trade. And, the team can save an additional $17.8 million by releasing incumbent starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
In other words: The Titans are in good financial shape if they wanted to trade for Jackson
As noted, it's a good fit for both the player and the team. So, the biggest question of all is, should the Titans trade two first-rounders in order to acquire Jackson?
Some would say it's a no-brainer to give two first-rounders for a dynamic 26-year-old quarterback that will likely be the face of your franchise for the next decade. Especially when looking at this through the lens of the Titans, who outside of Jeffrey Simmons, haven't really done much with their first-rounders over the last 5-6 years.
Then there are others who say the Titans have way too many holes on the roster to afford giving up that kind of draft capital. They need as many affordable contracts with high ceilings as they can get.
Either way, it'll be interesting to see how/if this develops into anything more in the coming days.
