Ryan Tannehill's Tennessee Titans tenure ended 'the way it should be.' Here's what's next

In five seasons with the Tennessee Titans, Ryan Tannehill transformed from a castoff destined to live his 30s as a backup-for-hire into one of the NFL's most efficient and effective passers into a wizened veteran fighting to keep his zen no matter the adversity faced.

Now, at the end of that five-year run, Tannehill talks like a player who knows his time with the Titans is over. He described the Titans' 28-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday by saying how good it felt to end the season and his time with the Titans with a win. Heading into free agency in March, it's hard to view Tannehill's statement any other way than as a goodbye to the franchise for which he started 63 games and threw 93 touchdowns.

"I understand the business side of things," Tannehill said. "Obviously we all know what happened this year. It doesn’t take a whole lot of foresight to see that."

The thing that happened, of course, was the emergence of rookie quarterback Will Levis, the rookie second-round pick who took over as the Titans' starter after Tannehill sprained his ankle in Week 6. After just two starts, Titans coach Mike Vrabel announced Levis as the Titans' starter, regardless of Tannehill's health.

A couple Levis injuries thrust Tannehill back into action for the Titans' last three games, giving him an opportunity to end his Titans tenure on better terms. And with Sunday's win — fueled by a vintage Tannehill-era Titans performance, a dominant day from Derrick Henry, some clutch defensive stops and a few Tannehill dimes in and around the red zone — Tannehill did just that.

"There were several times today where I had to put myself back in the moment and not step back and get emotional about a lot of things," Tannehill said. "(Kneeling down in victory formation at the end of the game) was one of them. Being in the moment. Being in the huddle. Celebrating with the guys about the win. It felt like that’s the way it should be."

The season was tough on Tannehill, he'll admit. Between the injury and Levis taking his job, there were plenty of moments when he had to swallow pride and "forcefully lift" his head back up. He wanted to pity himself. He wanted to be sad. But he pushed ahead for the sake of his teammates, even when he wasn't playing.

Next season, though, Tannehill hopes to be somewhere he can play.

"I know I can keep playing," Tannehill said. "I don’t know what the future holds. We’ll see and we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But I know I can keep playing. I feel good. I feel confident that given the right opportunity and the right place I’d love to keep playing."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick atnsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.