After two straight sub-.500 seasons in 2022 and 2023, the Tennessee Titans fired six-year head coach Mike Vrabel and replaced him with former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. The result? The Titans went from six wins in Vrabel’s final season to three wins in 2024.
A big part of the problem has been the team’s instability at the quarterback position. After five seasons with Ryan Tannehill under center, Tennesse made the transition last year to 2023 second-round draft pick Will Levis. But the former Kentucky Wildcat was benched after Week 16 as a result of his erratic performance, throwing 12 interceptions in 12 games and taking the team to a 2-10 record in his starts.
The only bright side to the Titans’ dismal 2024 season was that they ended up with the No. 1 overall draft pick. But this year’s quarterback class is considered thin. The Titans could draft Miami’s Cam Ward, or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, considered the top two quartback prospects in the draft, or stick with Levis and his backup, Mason Rudolph who went 1-4 in his five starts.
Titans May Target Former Patriots First-Round Pick at QB
Or the Titans can sign a quarterback to get them through the season until they can get another shot at drafting a quarterback. And in that respect, the Titans have been linked to a former New England Patriots first-round draft pick who was just jettisoned by his 2024 team on Monday.
In 2021, his first season with the Patriots after they made him the 15th overall draft pick that year, after leading Alabama to a national championship in the College Football Playoffs, Mac Jones led the Patriots to a playoff berth, starting all 17 games with a 10-7 record and earning a Pro Bowl bid.
After that, Jones’ career went downhill fast. Throwing double-digit interceptions on both 2022 and 2023, Jones found himself repeatedly benched in favor of 2022 fourth-round draft pick Bailey Zappe, as the Patriots dropped to eight wins in 2022 and just four in 2023.
At least partly a result of Jones’ rapidly declining performance, the Patriots fired legendary coach Bill Belichick after the 2023 season and then traded Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars where he would serve as backup to Trevor Lawrence, who was the top pick in the same 2021 draft in which the Patriots took Jones.
With an injury to Lawrence, Jones started seven games for Jacksonville, completing 171 of 262 pass attempts for 1,672 yards and eight touchdowns with eight interceptions. Even so, he managed to lead the Jaguars to just two wins and five losses.
But on Monday, just hours into the “legal tampering” period in which teams may reach agreements with free agents, Jacksonville signed former Vikings backup Nick Mullins, effectively ending Jones’ days in Jacksonville. With his four-year, $15.6 million rookie contract expired, Jones is now a free agent.
Titans Have Options With No. 1 Draft Pick
That’s where the Titans come in. According to Titans reporter Buck Reising, “Two names Iâve heard around Titans interest: Zach Wilson and Mac Jones.” With former New York Jets and Denver Broncos signal caller Wilson now signed with the Miami Dolphins, that leaves Jones as a Titans target â at least a rumored one, that is.
“As the team with the first overall pick in next month’s draft, they (the Titans) could have their choice of 2025 prospects,” wrote Sara Marshall of the Fansided Patriots site Musket Fire. “But it looks like they might be passing on that opportunity to sign a free agent instead and use their coveted selection on another game-changing player, likely Abdul Carter.”
That would take Carter, who has been named as a serious draft target for the Patriots with the No. 4 pick, off the board.
Of course, the Titans could still select Ward or Sanders, but also sign Jones as a “bridge” quarterback to mentor the rookie.
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