Peyton Manning talked about how he nearly signed with the Tennessee Titans in 2012.

Manning signed with the Denver Broncos and also considered the Titans and San Francisco 49ers.

"I was pretty close," Manning said.

"I was hoping we would win out," the late Titans' owner Bud Adams said at the time. "I thought we'd be ahead of Denver. I thought he'd want to stay in Tennessee."

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers struggled to make a decision between Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Tennessee Titans' general manager Jon Robinson was with the Buccaneers during that draft decision.

"I mean it was a tough decision in Tampa for us last year," Robinson told Jim Rome. "I was heavily involved in that process, and it really wasn't a 1-2, it was more of a 1a -- 1b, where we really couldn't go wrong with either player."

Robinson became sold on Mariota well before the 2015 draft.

"You notice good football players on the road when you're scouting, and he was a guy that had a quiet confidence about him that distributed the football well, that had a unique balance of arm talent and athleticism and just thought he was going to be a really good football player," Robinson said.

The San Diego Chargers have claimed Zach Mettenberger off waivers.

Mettenberger was waived this week by the Tennessee Titans.

The Chargers held the No. 2 waiver wire priority behind the Cleveland Browns and reunite Mettenberger with Ken Whisenhunt.

Mettenberger offers prototypical pocket quarterback size, a big arm and a willingness to squeeze the ball into tight spaces. Mettenberger has a QBR of just 16.5 over the past two seasons.

Zach Mettenberger has been waived by the Tennessee Titans.

Mettenberger started 10 games over two seasons. The Titans didn't win any of those games.

Mettenberger, who has a big arm but limited mobility, completed 60.3 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a 75.4 passer rating for the Titans.

Marcus Mariota will be the starter again this season while the Titans signed Matt Cassel as his backup when free agency opened.

Jon Robinson has recreated a director of player personnel post in the Tennessee Titans' front office and will fill it with Ryan Cowden, according to a league source.

Cowden previously served as Carolina's assistant director of college scouting.

Cowden presumably will work between Robinson and Blake Beddingfield, the director of college scouting, and Brian Gardner, the pro scouting coordinator.

The Tennessee Titans claim DeMarco Murray was fine with the team selecting Derrick Henry in the second round.

Mike Mularkey phoned Murray immediately after the Henry selection to ensure him he wouldn't be losing his job for the second straight season.

"First of all, he loved the pick," Mularkey said of Murray, via the team's official website. "And he said, 'He's going to make me better and I am going to do the same for him.' He said, 'I'm going to do whatever I can to make him a great player."

Mularkey insists Murray is entrenched as the lead back.

"I told DeMarco, 'Nothing has changed since we made the trade for you. You're still going to be the guy who is going to carry the load for us and I know when you need to take a break and come off the field there will be no letdown when the next running back comes in, whoever that is'," Mularkey explained. "That is our mindset and I told him that directly not long after we made that pick, that he was clear with the direction we were going to go with it."