- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 441,539
- Reaction score
- 44
Maybe, as it turns out, there are more quarterbacks coveted by NFL teams than it looks at first glance. And maybe that, as much as anything else, has the Tennessee Titans locked in the position they're in.
The New York Giants and veteran QB Russell Wilson have agreed to terms on a contract, pending a physical, that lands the Super Bowl winner with the squad thought to be the Titans' top trade partner for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Now the Giants don't need a quarterback for 2025. Neither do their co-tenants, the Jets, who signed Justin Fields this offseason. Nor do the Las Vegas Raiders with Geno Smith in tow, nor the Seattle Seahawks who replaced Smith with Sam Darnold, nor the Minnesota Vikings who are moving on from Darnold with 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy.
None of these teams are settled at quarterback. Wilson is signing a one-year deal. Fields signed a two-year deal. Smith only has one year left on his contract. Seattle can essentially bail on its Darnold deal for minimal penalty after one year. And McCarthy's never taken an NFL snap.
ESTES: So it's Cam Ward at No. 1, right? Tennessee Titans sure making everyone think so
But the point remains that these teams don't have to be desperate in search for a quarterback for 2025. Nor do the Indianapolis Colts, who brought in veteran Daniel Jones as insurance against Anthony Richardson. Nor do teams like Arizona, San Francisco and Miami who signed backups with recent starting experience. And don't forget the L.A. Rams' moves to keep Matthew Stafford (and Jimmy Garoppolo) that kicked off the QB market this offseason, or the New Orleans Saints' decision to hold onto Derek Carr. Heck, even the Pittsburgh Steelers, while flirting with the playfully-indecisive Aaron Rodgers, brought back Mason Rudolph as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency plan.
The only teams left urgently on the hunt for quarterback are the Titans and Cleveland Browns. The teams with the first two picks in April's draft. A draft known for only having two top quarterbacks available, if that. Guess the math worked out there.
It's not that the Titans can't still trade the No. 1 pick. Everything's game until April 24. The reality is the Titans' infatuation with top QB prospect Cam Ward has grown, as evidenced by the fact the organization sent an envoy of everyone but the waterboy to watch Ward's pro day workout Monday. That means the asking price for a trade to move off No. 1 and pass on Ward has seemingly gone up too. And while that's happened, all the teams that would logically want to trade with the Titans have made moves to ensure they can survive 2025 without Ward. That, logically, drives those teams' willingness to offer gigantic hauls to the Titans down.
Think back to 2016, when the Titans traded the No. 1 pick to the Los Angeles Rams days before the draft began. The three most prominent quarterbacks to change teams that offseason were Brock Osweiler, Chase Daniel and Robert Griffin III. Coming into that draft, which also only featured two top-tier quarterback prospects, Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco and Philadelphia all needed quarterbacks while the squads in Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City and the Jets were all on "probably need a quarterback soon" watch.
In a year like that, the Rams and Eagles mortgage their futures to move up and gamble on top prospects while historic busts like Paxton Lynch and Christian Hackenberg end up being picked 26th and 51st just to match demand. This year... no team really has to make one of those gambles.
WHO NOT TO MOCK DRAFT: Tennessee Titans NFL mock draft 2025: The nightmare worst-case scenario Titans must avoid
None of this matters, of course, if the Titans were always planning on drafting Ward. He impressed in his combine interviews. He impressed in his private visit to Nashville. And he impressed throwing at his pro day. Mix that all in with the fact that he threw more touchdowns than any Division I college football player ever has and there are a ton of reasons to like Ward.
Which all sets up a three-option thought exercise: Are quarterback-needy teams opting for veterans this offseason because the market was saturated to a point that they got good value, because they don't particularly value Ward relative to the value of trading up or because they know how much the Titans value Ward and they wouldn't have been able to match the asking price?
Whatever the answer is about why this has all happened, the outcome is tough to ignore.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Analyzing what Russell Wilson signing means for Tennessee Titans, NFL draft
Continue reading...
The New York Giants and veteran QB Russell Wilson have agreed to terms on a contract, pending a physical, that lands the Super Bowl winner with the squad thought to be the Titans' top trade partner for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Now the Giants don't need a quarterback for 2025. Neither do their co-tenants, the Jets, who signed Justin Fields this offseason. Nor do the Las Vegas Raiders with Geno Smith in tow, nor the Seattle Seahawks who replaced Smith with Sam Darnold, nor the Minnesota Vikings who are moving on from Darnold with 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy.
None of these teams are settled at quarterback. Wilson is signing a one-year deal. Fields signed a two-year deal. Smith only has one year left on his contract. Seattle can essentially bail on its Darnold deal for minimal penalty after one year. And McCarthy's never taken an NFL snap.
ESTES: So it's Cam Ward at No. 1, right? Tennessee Titans sure making everyone think so
But the point remains that these teams don't have to be desperate in search for a quarterback for 2025. Nor do the Indianapolis Colts, who brought in veteran Daniel Jones as insurance against Anthony Richardson. Nor do teams like Arizona, San Francisco and Miami who signed backups with recent starting experience. And don't forget the L.A. Rams' moves to keep Matthew Stafford (and Jimmy Garoppolo) that kicked off the QB market this offseason, or the New Orleans Saints' decision to hold onto Derek Carr. Heck, even the Pittsburgh Steelers, while flirting with the playfully-indecisive Aaron Rodgers, brought back Mason Rudolph as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency plan.
The only teams left urgently on the hunt for quarterback are the Titans and Cleveland Browns. The teams with the first two picks in April's draft. A draft known for only having two top quarterbacks available, if that. Guess the math worked out there.
It's not that the Titans can't still trade the No. 1 pick. Everything's game until April 24. The reality is the Titans' infatuation with top QB prospect Cam Ward has grown, as evidenced by the fact the organization sent an envoy of everyone but the waterboy to watch Ward's pro day workout Monday. That means the asking price for a trade to move off No. 1 and pass on Ward has seemingly gone up too. And while that's happened, all the teams that would logically want to trade with the Titans have made moves to ensure they can survive 2025 without Ward. That, logically, drives those teams' willingness to offer gigantic hauls to the Titans down.
Think back to 2016, when the Titans traded the No. 1 pick to the Los Angeles Rams days before the draft began. The three most prominent quarterbacks to change teams that offseason were Brock Osweiler, Chase Daniel and Robert Griffin III. Coming into that draft, which also only featured two top-tier quarterback prospects, Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco and Philadelphia all needed quarterbacks while the squads in Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City and the Jets were all on "probably need a quarterback soon" watch.
In a year like that, the Rams and Eagles mortgage their futures to move up and gamble on top prospects while historic busts like Paxton Lynch and Christian Hackenberg end up being picked 26th and 51st just to match demand. This year... no team really has to make one of those gambles.
WHO NOT TO MOCK DRAFT: Tennessee Titans NFL mock draft 2025: The nightmare worst-case scenario Titans must avoid
None of this matters, of course, if the Titans were always planning on drafting Ward. He impressed in his combine interviews. He impressed in his private visit to Nashville. And he impressed throwing at his pro day. Mix that all in with the fact that he threw more touchdowns than any Division I college football player ever has and there are a ton of reasons to like Ward.
Which all sets up a three-option thought exercise: Are quarterback-needy teams opting for veterans this offseason because the market was saturated to a point that they got good value, because they don't particularly value Ward relative to the value of trading up or because they know how much the Titans value Ward and they wouldn't have been able to match the asking price?
Whatever the answer is about why this has all happened, the outcome is tough to ignore.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Analyzing what Russell Wilson signing means for Tennessee Titans, NFL draft
Continue reading...
