I know most Tennessee Titans fans were disappointed with the first year of the Ken Whisenhunt era in Music City, but the 2-14 season was a necessity. It provided the new regime with a year to evaluate the talent they have on the roster, and more importantly. the second pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Setting the draft aside for now, and digging into the free agent list, it’s pretty clear that the Titans staff has evaluated their team during the 2014 schedule, and are setting up to make the changes necessary to bring more wins to Nashville in 2015.
In yesterday’s post, 2015 NFL Free Agency Primer, we got started talking about the upcoming free agency period, and I provided a link to a list of designated Titan free agents, complete with their salaries.
Now it’s time to dig in, and decide who is earning their paycheck, and who needs to go.
When they released the free agency list, it was obvious that with 26 names on the block, the Titans have identified the fat, and are ready to go to work with the knife.
They have already cut ties with Right Tackle, Michael Oher, which trimmed the list to 25 names, and cut $3 million out of the salary cap.
The free agency salary totaled around $34.5 million, and with the departure of Oher, it is now only a $31.5 million issue for the staff to deal with.
Pro Football Focus is a website that provides analytical data that is used by sports agents to help decide the worth of players to their current teams.
Although the numbers are a bit of VooDoo, they provide factual data, and can show us who is, and who isn’t more valuable to the team.
The ranking system on this site, puts a number on each player, with the most valuable player in the Titans case, being Punter, Brett Kern at +17.4 and the least valuable on the Titans list being Michael Oher at -20.2.
The list also deals with the age of each player, and how many regular-season snaps the player took during the 2014 season.
| Name | Age | Pos | 2014 Team | 2015 Team | Rating | Snaps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett Kern | 29 | P | TEN | UFA | 17.4 | 96 |
| Derrick Morgan | 26 | ED | TEN | UFA | 14.6 | 1029 |
| Michael Roos | 32 | OT | TEN | UFA | 4.6 | 300 |
| Ryan Succop | 28 | K | TEN | UFA | 3.6 | 114 |
| Karl Klug | 27 | DI | TEN | UFA | 1.9 | 338 |
| Brandon Harris | 25 | CB | TEN | UFA | 1.7 | 112 |
| Kaelin Burnett | 25 | LB | TEN | RFA | 0.5 | 2 |
| Jackie Battle | 31 | FB | TEN | UFA | 0.1 | 118 |
| Colin McCarthy | 27 | LB | TEN | UFA | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Palmer | 31 | QB | TEN | UFA | -0.6 | 5 |
| Eric Olsen | 27 | G | TEN | UFA | -0.8 | 17 |
| Chase Coffman | 28 | TE | TEN | UFA | -1 | 166 |
| Matthew Mulligan | 30 | TE | TEN | UFA | -1.3 | 60 |
| Kris Durham | 27 | WR | TEN | RFA | -2.3 | 109 |
| Leon Washington | 33 | HB | TEN | UFA | -2.7 | 240 |
| Nate Washington | 32 | WR | TEN | UFA | -5.1 | 782 |
| Derek Hagan | 30 | WR | TEN | UFA | -5.6 | 316 |
| Byron Stingily | 26 | OT | TEN | UFA | -7.4 | 248 |
| Chris Spencer | 33 | C | TEN | UFA | -7.5 | 331 |
| Quentin Groves | 31 | ED | TEN | UFA | -11.2 | 246 |
| Beau Brinkley | 25 | LS | TEN | RFA | -12 | 144 |
| Will Svitek | 33 | OT | TEN | UFA | -13.8 | 190 |
| George Wilson | 34 | S | TEN | UFA | -14.1 | 834 |
| Jake Locker | 27 | QB | TEN | UFA | -16.7 | 310 |
| Michael Oher | 29 | OT | TEN | CUT | -20.2 | 668 |
The Tennessee Titans are not likely to put the franchise tag on any of these players, but the obvious work-horse is Defensive End, Derrick Morgan. Other than Kern, Morgan is the most valuable player on the list, and needs to be in Titan Blue for the 2015 season.
Morgan can be a key piece for Defensive Assistant Coach, Dick LeBeau while he builds a competitive defense in Nashville. With Jurrell Casey, and the possibility of bringing in USC DE, Leonard Williams with the 2015 Draft, this combination could be deadly to opposing offenses.
It will be a tough call on Offensive Tackle, Michael Roos, and Wide Receiver,Nate Washington. Both have hefty contracts, and both are getting to the end of their football life cycle. I think, one, or both could be on the payroll in 2015, but they are going to have to take a pay cut.
Free Agency opens on March 10th, and between now, and then, this situation will get interesting, to say the least.
Be sure to check back with Titan Sized for updates, as events that affect the Tennessee Titans unfold during this off-season.