Rivals now scrambling at QB
O’Brien finally has his man in Watson, but AFC South foes all have big question marks
INDIANAPOLIS — The Texans are the only AFC South team without issues at quarterback.
During the NFL combine, there’s been constant speculation about quarterbacks who could become unrestricted March 18 when free agency begins as well as those expected to be drafted in the first round.
The Texans used to have that problem — looking for a franchise quarterback — but they solved it in 2017 with Deshaun Watson, who’s led them to division titles in each of the past two seasons.
The Texans’ AFC South opponents aren’t as comfortable at the most important position on the team.
The Titans are trying to re-sign Ryan Tannehill, while reports of interest in Tom Brady continue to percolate.
Indianapolis is supposed to be interested in Philip Rivers, who played for coach Frank Reich for three years in San Diego.
Jacksonville has to decide on Gardner Minshew II, who’s entering his second season, or nine-year veteran Nick Foles, who signed a four-year contract last year for $88 million, including $50.1 million guaranteed.
Let’s analyze each team’s situation at quarterback, starting with the Titans.
Tennessee doesn’t want to lose Tannehill. In his first season with the Titans after being acquired from Miami, they earned a wild-card berth and won road playoff games against New England and Baltimore before losing the AFC Championship Game at Kansas City.
The Titans have been unsuccessful so far in signing Tannehill to a new contract. There are reports they’re interested in reuniting coach Mike Vrabel with Brady, his teammate at New England, where they won three Super Bowls together.
Vrabel and general manager Jon Robinson haven’t denied the Brady speculation, although it seems far-fetched because he figures to command a two-year deal worth about $70 million. They want to bring back Tannehill, who was voted NFL Comeback Player of the Year after leading the league in completion percentage, quarterback rating and yards per attempt in his first season at Tennessee.
With their two best offensive players, Tannehill and running back Derrick Henry, needing new contracts, the Titans could be near desperation mode if they can’t sign at least one before March 18.
While the Titans continue negotiations with Tannehill, the Colts are looking for another quarterback after Jacoby Brissett’s disappointing season. After a 5-2 start, Brissett and the Colts faded badly down the stretch and finished 7-9, unable to overcome Andrew Luck’s stunning retirement in August.
The Colts could sign a veteran such as Rivers or try to get one of the top prospects with the 13th pick in the first round. Or they could do both.
Rivers is familiar with Reich’s system. In three years with the Chargers (2013-15), Reich coached quarterbacks the first season and was offensive coordinator the last two.
Reich’s offensive coordinator with the Colts, Nick Sirianni,
spent five years on the Chargers’ offensive staff (201317), including two seasons coaching quarterbacks.
Rivers, 38, seems like a natural fit with the Colts. Even if they sign him, they could still use their first-round pick on his eventual replacement and trade Brissett for a draft choice.
Money won’t be an issue for Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard, who has $86.1 million in salary cap space.
At Jacksonville, coach Doug Marrone survived to coach another season, and no coach’s seat will be hotter. Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell know they have to win, but do they do it with Foles or Minshew?
Foles was 0-4 as a starter last season. He was injured in the season opener and later benched. Minshew, a sixthround pick, was the biggest surprise in the NFL. He threw 21 touchdown passes and six interceptions and finished with a 91.2 rating. Most impressive? He was 6-6 as a starter.
While the Titans, Colts and Jaguars try to figure out what to do at quarterback, O’Brien can sit back and relax — at least at that position.
“We feel really good about Deshaun,” he said at the combine. “We feel good about a lot of the players around Deshaun on offense. We feel good about where we are on defense, but we also know there’s a lot of things we have to work on.”
Watson and O’Brien have a good relationship, but offensive coordinator Tim Kelly will call plays for the first time.
“I love the guy,” O’Brien said about Watson. “He’s an excellent player (and) an even better person. He cares about his teammates. He cares about being as good of a player and a teammate as he can be every day.”
When he was meeting with reporters from around the league, O’Brien was asked several questions about Watson, the same kind he gets every week during the season.
“He’s a very smart player,” O’Brien said. “He’s gotten better and better. We’re very fortunate to have him on our team. I think having that position, as we all know, is very important, and we feel like we have an excellent player there.”
As the quarterback prospects have been evaluated at the combine, one thing everyone wants to know is what kind of leaders they are. O’Brien got the same question about Watson.
“He’s an excellent leader,” he said. “He leads by example. He leads with his work ethic. He’s in early (and) stays late. He works in the weight room and takes care of his body.
“He’ll do whatever needs to be done at practice. He’ll stay after practice to fix a route or go out early to work on centerquarterback cadence and things like that. He does a lot of different things on and off the field to help us as a leader.”
Even though they can keep Watson for the next two years under his contract, and they could franchise him the year after that, O’Brien is hoping to sign him to a long-term extension. But when quarterbacks get paid the big bucks, it puts a strain on the salary cap.
“It’s very challenging,” O’Brien said of building a roster with a quarterback making more than $30 million a year. “You have to do as good a job as you can of making sure that you take care of your quarterback. I think that’s important when you have a great young quarterback.
“But at the same time, you’ve got to have a team around him. You have to have good people in your organization that understand and can come up with creative ways to help those issues relative to putting a team together.
“Everybody knows — and Deshaun will be the first to tell you — it’s not about one player. It’s about a lot of players. It’s a process that takes a lot of time and a lot of good communication, and that’s part of our daily routine.”
It’s a routine O’Brien is hoping will lead to another AFC South title and an opportunity for the Texans to compete for their first Super Bowl.