QB Ryan Tannehill not waiting on call to begin Year 12: 'If something comes up, then fantastic'

Training camp kicked off with quarterback Ryan Tannehill sitting at home.

Tannehill, who turns 36 today (happy birthday, Ryan!), recently told The Athletic’s Scoop City podcast that it’s a “weird feeling” not being in camp for the first time since 2012. The QB said that teams reached out during the offseason, but he didn’t find a fit.

“Nothing really felt right through free agency and through that, I had a lot of peace with it,” Tannehill said, via the Nashville Post. “Nothing outstanding jumped up, so I just said, ‘Hey, I’ll take a step back, and if something comes up on down the road …’

“Whether that’s training camp, maybe a guy goes down on a team and [the team] gives me a call, you never know what’s going to happen. So, just keeping the options open. But at the same time, not waiting on pins and needles for that call, right? I’m enjoying where I’m at, enjoying where my feet are at, where my family life is. If something comes up, then fantastic, I’ll jump wholeheartedly into it. But at the same time, not clearly just waiting on that.”

Essentially, Tannehill is comfortable potentially being this year’s Joe Flacco, who was famously pulled off the couch in November and helped lead the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs. Given that 66 quarterbacks started a game last season, it’s a good bet that Tannehill’s phone rings at some point this year.

Tannehill hasn’t stayed healthy the past couple of seasons and his play has been up and down; he looked every bit a mid-30s QB at times last season behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. However, it’s somewhat surprising that he couldn’t land a veteran backup role. It’s possible that his lukewarm reception to Malik Willis and Will Levis shied some teams away.

Tannehill noted there was some discomfort when the Titans drafted Levis in 2023, but wished his former teammate “nothing but the best.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to say it was a fun place to be,” Tannehill said. “Obviously, a lot of people have been through it. It’s nothing new. It’s part of the business. [Levis and I] had a good relationship. There was no animosity or anything. I didn’t have hard feelings against Will. He’s trying to chase his dream just like I was coming out of college, too. There was no hard feelings there. Tried to help him out along the way, just like I did with Malik a couple years prior to that. No hard feelings.”

If Tannehill is looking for a job with a chance to start, he’ll have to wait until the injuries pile up. But if he’s content to be a veteran mentor at this stage of his career, the options might grow — Chicago, anyone?

“I’m not ruling anything out,” Tannehill said. “If it was the right situation and felt like it was a good fit for me and my family, then I’m not ruling anything out. I know it doesn’t really tell you anything if I say right situation. But I can’t like write it down on paper, exactly what it is.

“I hate giving constant blanket answers that say nothing. But at the same time … it’s got to be, ‘What time of year is it? What’s the number?’ You know what I mean? So it all works together. I feel like it’s one of those things where if you know, you know. I feel like if that opportunity comes, then I’ll know.”

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