While the Tennessee Titans have no questions about who their starting quarterback will be entering 2024 thanks to second-year signal-caller Will Levis, the situation behind him hasn't been officially settled yet.
Liberty product and former third-round pick Malik Willis will compete against vet Mason Rudolph for the backup job, but by all accounts Rudolph was winning the battle during the spring, leaving Willis as an underdog going into training camp.
And that doesn't come as much surprise. After all, Rudolph has more experience and has actually had at least some success in the NFL. Meanwhile, Willis has been a major disappointment and hasn't shown anything over two seasons to suggest he can hang in the league in any capacity.
With that in mind, For The Win's Cory Woodroof believes Willis is a trade candidate going into training camp. He lists the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Ravens as potential landing spots.
The quarterback we’re most curious about joining a new team is Willis, who could be the next 2022 NFL Draft class member at his position to land elsewhere. With Will Levis and Mason Rudolph entrenched as the QB1 and QB2 in that order, that leaves Willis as a possible backup quarterback candidate/reclamation project for another franchise. Another franchise could flip a late draft pick Tennessee’s way and see if they could get the best out of Willis. Perhaps a change of scenery would help unlock more of the player we saw at Liberty and net the Titans draft compensation.
Willis is going to lose the competition to Rudolph, and when that happens his only chance of making the roster will be if Tennessee keeps three signal-callers, which isn't guaranteed.
The Titans would be wise to explore trading Willis, but the problem is he has no value currently. Making a potential trade more difficult is the fact that teams may expect Tennessee to cut him anyway, so they could acquire him without giving up draft capital, which would come in the form of a seventh-round pick, at best.
If the Titans can trade Willis, then by all means they should in order to get at least something for their failed former draft pick. But that option may simply not be available to them based on what we know about Willis.
