NFL free agency doesn't officially open until Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, which is the start of the new league year. But there will be plenty of news trickling out ahead of that, and the first potential quarterback domino has fallen as the – which takes them out of the market for Tom Brady.
At one point, the Titans had been as high as the second-betting favorite to sign Brady on the William Hill NFL futures odds, behind only Brady returning to the Patriots. That was in part because Brady is tight with Titans coach Mike Vrabel, his former teammate at New England. That TB12 returns to the only team he has ever known is still the -120 leader, but Tampa Bay has now jumped to a +100 second-favorite.
The SportsLine Projection Model actually forecasts the Titans to be slightly better in 2020 with Tannehill (9.1 wins) over Brady (9.0) if going by each's 2019 season. PointsBet sportsbook gives Tennessee a win total of Over-Under 8.5 with both options at -110 (bet $110 to return $100).
Tannehill led the NFL with a passer rating of 117.5 last season and was 7-3 as a starter in the regular season after replacing an ineffective Marcus Mariota. The Titans upset Brady's Patriots in Foxboro in the Wild-Card Round and Lamar Jackson's Ravens in Baltimore in the Divisional Round before falling to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Kansas City in the AFC title game.
Reports are that Tannehill will get a four-year deal worth up to $118 million with $62 million guaranteed. With the players' approval of the new CBA over the weekend, the Titans were limited to using a franchise/transition tag on just one player instead of two and that tag probably lands on running back Derrick Henry now unless the sides came come to their own agreement by Monday afternoon's deadline.
