Ryan Tannehill recently signed a 6-year contract extension
worth $96 million with $45 guaranteed. This confirms that the Dolphins are 100%
behind their franchise quarterback. Some would say that is a lot of money for
an inconsistent QB with a losing record that has never taken his team to the
playoffs. I’ll even admit that. But I don’t think that was the point of the
contract, to reward his performance over the past 3 years. I see it as a
proactive & good business move from the Dolphins to lock up their quarterback
sooner rather than later at a bargain price. And it was important to do so
before other quarterback’s from the 2012 draft class such as Andrew Luck,
Russell Wilson & RGIII got their contracts. There is a Super Bowl victory,
multiple playoff wins & an Offensive Rookie of the Year between those QB’s
and Tannehill hasn’t been nowhere close to reaching those achievements. Their
extensions will be well over $100 million, especially Luck, who just might be
the highest paid quarterback in the league when his time comes. So of course,
in terms of on-field performance & contract value, Tannehill isn’t on their
level (except RGIII). But if the Dolphins waited until after another good
season from Tannehill & contract extensions from the other QB’s, that new
contract would’ve been worth way more than they are giving him now.
There’s
been a lot of talk about Tannehill’s performance, his worth, & his rank
among the starting quarterbacks in the league after the contract numbers went public.
I’m a big Tannehill supporter & I believe we found our quarterback for the
next decade. Yes, he has to work on his pocket presence & deep ball. Despite
another 8-8 record, he is trending upwards & has improved in every relevant
statistical category in each of his 3 seasons. This past season, he threw for
4,045 yards & 27 touchdowns with a 66.4 completion percentage & a 92.8
passer rating. If you ask me, those are generally good numbers for a
quarterback in his 3rd year and the Dolphins could have easily went
10-6 if it wasn’t for a few late drives from Green Bay, Detroit & Denver.
So I know we’re good enough to achieve it & the talent is definitely there,
the Dolphins just have to get tougher physically & mentally and finish games
better.
If we get a
better record (playoffs) from the Dolphins & better play from Tannehill,
Miami will be in a better situation than other teams with $100 million
quarterbacks that haven’t played up to their big contracts. Colin Kaepernick &
Jay Cutler signed $100 million contracts within the past couple years but have regressed
since then. Tannehill might not have the athleticism of Kaep or the big arm of
Cutler, but Tannehill had a better year than both of them in 2014. If you ask
me, we have a top 15 quarterback in Tanny. He’s not in that elite bracket with
Brady, Manning, Rodgers, Luck & Brees but he’s better than the average
quarterback. Cam Newton, Philip Rivers, Big Ben, Matt Ryan & Russell Wilson
would round out my top 10. The rest of the top 15 with Tanny included would be
Matthew Stafford, Tony Romo, Eli Manning & Joe Flacco. Ryan Tannehill could
creep into the top 10 real soon & could be worth more than his new contract
with a couple more good, consistent seasons & some playoff wins under his
belt.
