The NFLPA approved a new CBA by a narrow vote on Sunday that will run through 2030, expand the playoff teams to 14, and the regular season to 17 games as early as 2021. As such, with the new league year set to begin this week teams could finally begin planning for free agency and making various roster moves, knowing the new salary cap as well as having just one of the franchise or transition tags at their disposal, rather than both.
In Tennessee, the Titans moved quickly to lock up quarterback Ryan Tannehill to a new deal to avoid needing to tag him, with the two sides reportedly agreeing to a deal on Sunday afternoon. Tannehill led the Titans to an AFC Championship Game where they fell to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs, and while the offense leaned heavily on Derrick Henry, he still managed to parlay that performance into a monster contract, that Jeff Darlington reports will pay him up to $118 million over four years, with a massive $62 million fully guaranteed and an effective guarantee of $91 million.
Ryan Tannehill has agreed to terms on a new four-year contract with the Titans, per source. Here’s the numbers:
$118m total
$29.5m average per year
$62m full guarantee
$91m total guaranteeBIG deal for Tannehill!
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) March 15, 2020
Here’s more numbers on Ryan Tannehill’s deal, per source:
2020 is $17.5m fully guaranteed.
2021 is $24.5m fully guaranteed.
2022 is $29m guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed on 5th day of 2021 league year.
2023 is $27.5m base.
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) March 15, 2020
The general reaction of the football world to the Tannehill deal was a bit of shock at the number, given that prior to his year in Tennessee he had been an inconsistent QB in Miami — and even in Tennessee last year, he wasn’t seen exactly as a top-tier QB in the league. Still, being a competent quarterback in the NFL is the fastest way to a big payday, and Tannehill had his big year at the right time to cash in for a Titans team that has been desperate to find a franchise quarterback ever since the end of the Air McNair era — although, I must say Vince Young’s tenure was much better in hindsight than many wanted to give him credit for at the time.
Written by: Uproxx