ESPN’s Dianna Russini passed along an interesting little nugget about how the Tennessee Titans’ 2019 trade for Ryan Tannehill has impacted NFL general managers since.
Russini’s revelation comes on the heels of the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams striking a blockbuster trade on Saturday night that involved each team’s quarterback and some draft capital.
Los Angeles received Matthew Stafford in the deal and sent Jared Goff, one third-round pick and two first-round picks to Detroit.
Of course, the Titans landed Tannehill in a trade with the Miami Dolphins prior to the 2019 campaign for what looks like peanuts now, as Tennessee gave up a seventh- and fourth-round pick and received the signal-caller as well as a sixth-round pick in return. It is arguably the best move general manager Jon Robinson has made during his Titans tenure.
Tannehill went on to take over the Titans’ starting job in Week 7 and has played at a very high level ever since en route to helping lead Tennessee to two straight playoff appearances and its first AFC South title since 2008.
As a result of his Tannehill’s career resurgence, Russini says league sources are telling her that NFL general managers are now scared to trade away young quarterbacks for fear that they’ll have success in their new home, something that has been dubbed “the Tannehill effect”.
There is a real fear with GMs around the league about giving away young QBs who aren’t working out in their current situations. I’ve spoken with a few league sources who call it the Tannehill effect, scared their own guy will go off and be great…somewhere else. https://t.co/sSn000n4jv
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) January 31, 2021
Tannehill wasn’t exactly a spring chicken when the Titans traded for him, but he was still only 30 (31 when the 2019 campaign began), four years older than Goff currently is. We’ll see if Goff can have any semblance of the success in Detroit that Tannehill has enjoyed in Tennessee.
Tannehill was paid handsomely for his sensational 2019 campaign last offseason, as he landed a four-year, $118 million deal. For reference, his annual average of $29.5 million is less than Goff’s ($33.5 million) and slightly more than Stafford’s ($27 million).
Regardless, this is a fascinating inside look into how the Titans have impacted the league with just one trade.
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