Titans general manager Ran Carthon picks up the phone, but he’s cautious about what to believe this week when his peers call Nashville.
“Nobody knows what anybody is doing, that’s really a lot of what it is,” Carthon said Monday discussing Tennessee’s plans for the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday.
The Titans pick 11th overall and have been tied to rumors involving trades up — and back — and possible deals for a quarterback. Over the weekend, multiple reports surfaced that the Titans are making Ryan Tannehill available in trade talks.
Carthon, hired as general manager in January, said he wants to be ready for “scenarios that might actually come up” entering his first draft in the GM chair in Tennessee.
Carthon softened his stance on Tannehill from a rhetoric perspective on Monday, when he stopped short of his February and March commitment to the QB.
“With Ryan and his respective position, the same thing can be said for every position. It’s our job to do due diligence at every position every year and look to improve it,” Carthon said. “It’s not an indictment on Ryan or anyone else on this roster. We have to evaluate everyone to give ourselves the best option to get the best 53 on the field.”
Tannehill and running back Derrick Henry are two prominent players who’ve been linked to trade rumors. Tannehill has $36.6 million cap hit in 2023. Henry has only a $6.3 million cap hit for next season.
“We have financial flexibility to make moves if we need to,” Carthon said Monday. “If you’re trading them, you’re trading them as-is. That comfort level of the contract would fall on the team that’s trading for them.”
