Does Ryan Tannehill Make Too Much Sense for Steelers?
Ryan Tannehill just completed his 11th NFL season - spending the first six with the Miami Dolphins and the last five with the Tennessee Titans.
With the Titans viewing Will Levis as their quarterback of the future, the 35-year-old Tannehill is set to hit the free agent market this offseason.
This past season, Tannehill played in only 10 games, sustaining two separate injuries; a right ankle sprain in October and a left ankle sprain in December. He was limited to 12 games in 2022 - also because of an ankle injury.
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II and head coach Mike Tomlin have emphasized that Kenny Pickett is expected to the QB1 heading into next season. Tomlin specifically however wants to bring in a veteran to compete with the 2022 first rounder.
Not even a month into the NFL offseason, and both Pittsburgh sports media & Steelers’ fans, have predictably been throwing out a plethora of names to bring in as candidates. In regards to free agency, Tannehill has come up the most.
One of the main reasons, if not the reason Tannehill has been linked to the Steelers so much, is due to Arthur Smith, who Pittsburgh hired as their new offensive coordinator on January 30th.
The connection is that Smith was Tennessee’s OC during the time Tannehill was there. Ironically enough, Tannehill had his two best seasons under Smith, as he was the league’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2019, and was even better in 2020, when he had a 33-7 TD/INT ratio along with a 106.7 passer rating.
While Tomlin did mention about there being competition with Pickett, the belief is that it won’t be a true competition. Instead, a veteran to serve as a capable backup, in the event that Pickett gets hurt, or even struggles.
So the question becomes this - Is Ryan Tannehill too obvious of a fit for the Steelers?
In my opinion, there seems to be multiple signs, for one to draw that conclusion. The first of course being the Arthur Smith connection. Secondly, although Tannehill no longer plays at a franchise type level, he can still be a more than serviceable QB, when he stays healthy. And third, it really wouldn’t take much financially for GM Omar Khan to bring in Tannehill, even though the Steelers, and the rest of the league will have their salary caps increased by $30.6 million in 2024. And if nothing else, Tannehill can serve in a mentor role to Pickett.
Going by the general consensus of Steelers’ fans, signing Tannehill would be frowned upon, however, it’s something I could realistically see the organization doing, for all the reasons I listed.