Miami Dolphins sign QB Ryan Tannehill to $96 million extension

With so many teams either in desperate need of a quarterback or watching their quarterback near retirement age, the Miami Dolphins were quite glad to lock up their young, rising quarterback through the rest of the decade.

Ryan Tannehill signed an extension with the Dolphins through 2020. Although Tannehill hasn’t gotten the fanfare of other 2012 draft classmates like Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson, he has steadily improved through his three NFL seasons.

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the extension is worth $96 million with $45 million guaranteed. Tannehill got a lengthy extension before Luck, Wilson or Robert Griffin III. If that’s what Tannehill is worth, add on plenty more to predict what Luck and Wilson will get. But Tannehill’s promise makes that figure worth it for the Dolphins, who haven’t had much to get excited about at quarterback since Dan Marino retired.

Tannehill’s passer ratings have gone from 76.1 as a rookie to 81.7 to 92.8 last season. That 92.8 rating was 12th best among NFL quarterbacks with at least 400 attempts last season. He threw for 4,045 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. That’s not too bad for a quarterback who doesn’t turn 27 until late July. It’s especially encouraging that Tannehill, the eighth pick of the 2012 draft who played almost entirely at receiver at Texas A&M until midway through his junior season, has gotten better in just about every statistical category in each of his three NFL seasons.

The Dolphins are paying a bit on what Tannehill will become, not necessarily what he has done so far. But they see the promise, and in a league with a lot of quarterback uncertainty, they’re just fine with their young signal caller.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab