Rodgers Rumors Stir Manning Memories

If the Tennessee Titans are serious about trying to acquire one of the NFL's best quarterbacks, it won't be the first time -- and the last was not that long ago.

It seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The Tennessee Titans had a chance to get one of the NFL’s all-time great quarterbacks, a Super Bowl champion and four-time Most Valuable Player.

Never mind that they believed they were set at the position and not just for the short-term. When you get the chance to pursue such a deal, you go for it. After all, who knows when – or if – a moment such as that will come again.

Turns out, that a lifetime isn’t as long as most people think.

In this case it’s 10 years. That’s how long it has been since the Titans went all out to try to sign Peyton Manning for the second – and final – act of his legendary career. Tennessee was one of four teams that Manning considered – Denver, Arizona and San Francisco were the others – before he ultimately settled on the Broncos, the franchise with which he won one more Super Bowl and earned a record fifth MVP award.

Now, here we are. It is fewer than two weeks from the start of the 2022 NFL contract year, and the Titans continue to be mentioned in connection with Aaron Rodgers, who may or may not want out of Green Bay after 17 highly decorated seasons with the Packers.

Friday, Pro Football Talk reported Tennessee is one of three teams that effectively have agreed to trade compensation with Green Bay and to contract terms with Rodgers’ representatives in the event he does want a change. The others listed in the report are Denver and Pittsburgh.

It is important to note that Rodgers is not a free agent. He is under contract for one more season, and at a hefty cost in the form of a salary cap number of $46 million and change. However, he has expressed uncertainty about his desire to remain with the Packers, and that team’s executives have said they would do their best to accommodate him if he requests a trade.

The PFT report cited “a source with knowledge of the situation” and characterized the Titans and Steelers as “other viable possibilities.” The Broncos long have been viewed as Rodgers’ first choice, particularly since they hired former Green Bay quarterbacks coach Nathaniel Hackett to be their head coach.

That report came two days after Titans general manager Jon Robinson said, “we haven’t had any discussions with any other teams about any other quarterbacks.”

So, one of three things happened: A) Robinson did not tell the truth on Wednesday (sometimes that is an occupational hazard for those in his position), B) The source was a Rodgers representative who referenced Tennessee, where the quarterback recently purchased a home, as a matter of leverage in discussions with other clubs; or C) Things changed – and quickly – in the second half of the week.

Almost certainly, it is the second.

Robinson has been clear and consistent in his support of current quarterback Ryan Tannehill since the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round of the playoffs, a game in which Tannehill threw three interceptions. Coach Mike Vrabel has done the same. Each has said his evaluation of the position includes, among other things, the fact that Tannehill has won twice as many games, playoffs included (32) as he has lost (16) since he became the Titans’ starter, and that he has provided consistency and leadership under center that the franchise had not known since Steve McNair.

Keep in mind also that Robinson chose to sign Tannehill to a contract extension two years ago (that deal has two remaining years) rather than make a serious push for another of the all-time greats, Tom Brady, who was a free agent at that time. In the weeks leading up to that deal, Brady and the Titans were routinely mentioned in the same breath just as Rodgers and the Titans are now.

Back in 2012 Tennessee had an established veteran who led them to a winning record the previous season, Matt Hasselbeck, and a 2011 first-round pick who they believed would be their starter for a decade or more, Jake Locker.

Then-general manager Ruston Webster and coach Mike Munchak believed it was a much better situation than it ultimately turned out to be. Yet that did not stop them from pursuing Manning. For Titans fans, those were heady days as they imagined the one-time University of Tennessee star in the two-tone blue.

The reality was that Manning never intended to play for the Titans. His workout for them, conducted in Knoxville, was more a tribute to the support he still enjoyed throughout the state and an opportunity to use all that passion in negotiations to ensure another club – the Broncos – made him the most lucrative offer possible.

A funny thing happened, though. The Titans actually gave Manning a lot to consider, particularly Munchak, who was a Hall of Fame Player in his own right and related to the future Hall of Famer in a way few others could. And consider them he did. By all accounts Tennessee finished as the runner-up to the Broncos.

Vrabel won’t ever be enshrined in Canton, Ohio but he had a long career as a player that included multiple Super Bowl wins. That has given him credibility within his locker room and attracted the attention of other players around the league.

For his part, Robinson has shown an ability to get things done when he sets his mind to it. Witness last year’s trade for Julio Jones, some of the draft deals he has made to select particular players and the big money he spent on free agents such as Bud Dupree and Rodger Saffold.

With those two calling the shots, many Titans supporters have started to believe that anything is possible, including the acquisition of one of the best quarterbacks ever. And if you have a chance to get a player like that, you have to try, right?

So, it seems the Titans find themselves with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For the second time.