The Tennessee Titans traded veteran quarterback Malik Willis away to the Green Bay Packers on Monday, leaving them with just starter Will Levis and backup Mason Rudolph on the roster. And it sounds like roster space is the only reason the team made that move.
During a recent press conference, Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan explained that the team simply couldn’t justify using a space on their 53-man roster on a third quarterback and suggested that the league could allow a 54th roster spot for an emergency third-string quarterback.
“They have to be on the active roster so you have to carry three. That’s how it works. You can still practice squad a quarterback and still elevate him, but they’re still counting. It’s not like a free spot, like it comes across like you get a free spot for a third quarterback, but it’s not,” Callahan said. “It’s a roster spot, it’s a real one, and you’ve got to carry him on the 53 to get that emergency quarterback. I would love it if they just made it a 54th spot or a 47th spot on game day or whatever that is, and you can just carry a third quarterback and they can enter the game if you need them to enter the game, that would be great, but that’s not the way it works. I know they don’t necessarily want to pay a 47th spot on game day. I get how all of it works and it sounds appealing, but it’s still a roster spot at the end of the day.”
Callahan said the decision to trade Willis was simply because the team only wanted to keep two quarterbacks on the roster, and they were pleased with Rudolph as Levis’ backup.
“Malik really showed well for himself,” Callahan said. “Mason just kind of continues to be the epitome of consistency.”
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