Analyst claims Ryan Tannehill, Kyler Murray were nearly dealt at the draft

The Tennessee Titans’ pursuit of one of the draft’s top quarterbacks was no secret.

The deal they reportedly had in place to trade Ryan Tannehill, however, was kept under wraps. According to NFL analyst Simon Hunter of Action Network, the Titans had a deal in place ahead of the draft to send their starting QB to the Atlanta Falcons, as did the Arizona Cardinals.

“Atlanta was going to trade for Tannehill; that was a real thing,” Hunter said during a recent episode of “The Favorites Podcast.” “Tennessee was going to give Tannehill to Atlanta and they were going to move up to the eighth spot — they just couldn’t work out the money. The same thing happened with Kyler Murray and Atlanta. Apparently there was a deal in place for the Cardinals…they were going to send Kyler Murray to Atlanta for draft picks and they were going to take some money on.”

Tannehill has one year left on his deal with a $36.6 million cap hit — second-highest among quarterbacks in 2023, behind only Patrick Mahomes. Murray, who just signed a five-year, $230.5 million contract last year, has a $16 million cap hit in 2023, but it jumps to $51.85 million in 2024. Atlanta has just a little over $14 million in cap space.

Tennessee took Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski with the 11th overall pick and then traded up in the second round to take Kentucky’s Will Levis with the 33rd overall pick. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters after the draft Tannehill will begin the year as the Titans starter with Malik Willis as his backup and Levis as the third-string QB.

Arizona traded the No. 3 pick to the Houston Texans (in a move that very well could net them the first or second overall pick next year) before trading back up to select Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr., while the Falcons passed on a QB opting to grab Texas running back Bijan Robinson with the No. 8 pick.