Cleveland Browns: 3 QBs who could force a release to replace Deshaun Watson

1. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans

A first-round pick back in 2012, Ryan Tannehill started 88 games over the course of six seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He was eventually traded to the Tennessee Titans, where he’s been for the past five years. With Tennessee, he’s started another 61 games.

His time in Miami saw some struggles as the team was just 42-46 with him under center. In Tennessee, it’s been much better. After replacing Marcus Mariota, Tannehill has led the Titans to a record of 38-23 and they had double-digit winning campaigns in both 2020 and 2021.

This year, however, Tannehill wound up losing his job to rookie Will Levis. The Kentucky product took over when Tanehill was sidelined due to an injury but will keep the job even though the veteran is back at practice. Tannehill has shown support for Levis but admits the benching “hit hard.”

Knowing he’s not going to play forever, the 35 year old might want to try and ask for his release in order to find a starting job elsewhere. Should he be able to get to the open market, signing in Cleveland would be huge for him. Not only does he have a strong enough arm to deal with the cold weather but he too has never had an issue taking a back seat to the ground game — he’s had to do so several times with Derrick Henry.

No one will confuse Tannehill with Patrick Mahomes but he’s more than capable of winning games when his team has a great defense. The Browns have that and it Dorian Thompson-Robinson still looks like a rookie against Pittsburgh this weekend, they’re going to risk wasting their top-tier defense. Perhaps that can change if one of these players forces their way out.