Last year, the Titans invested a third-round draft pick in quarterback Malik Willis. This year, Willis might not even make the team.
In a mailbag item published at the team’s official website, veteran Titans reported Jim Wyatt writes that Willis’s spot on the 53-man roster “isn’t guaranteed .”
Obviously, incumbent Ryan Tannehill and rookie Will Levis, the 33rd overall pick in the draft for whom the Titans traded up to get, will make the team.
The new rule allowing teams to dress a third quarterback on game day gives Willis an edge, but the rule requires the team to carry the third quarterback on the 53-man roster. Plenty of teams resist investing a regular roster spot on a third quarterback, since that’s one less spot that can be used on a player who is far more likely to play.
Wyatt writes that, in May, he doubted Willis would make it. But Willis, per Wyatt, “outperformed” Levis during the offseason program, showing real improvement over last year.
Willis was thrust into the starting lineup last year, after a Ryan Tannehill injury. The Titans eventually benched Willis for a pair of key late-season games, opting to use journeyman Josh Dobbs instead. Dobbs even got the start in a playoff play-in game to cap the regular season.
The benching of Willis has caused some to speculate that he was picked solely by former G.M. Jon Robinson, and not a favorite of coach Mike Vrabel. Still, if Willis has indeed improved, Vrabel could be inclined to consider keeping him around.
Also working in Willis’s favor is his salary. He makes the second-year minimum of $939,550, and his cap number is only $1.172 million. Quarterbacks don’t come much cheaper than that.