Tennessee Titans: Losing tied to spending habits?
By P. L. Colter
In last December’s league meetings, the NFL announced that the 2016 salary cap would range between 150 and 153 million dollars for each team. A 10 million dollar increase from last season.
But for the Tennessee Titans, it’s not about needing more shopping money.
I took a closer look at how the Titans are spending their money, and the results shed some light on their recent woes.
The cornerback position was erratic, injured, and inconsistent for Tennessee in 2015, finishing the season with a near league low 11 interceptions.
They also collectively tie up the most salary cap space on the team ($17,635,052 – 14.09%).
Jason McCourty should make a healthy return, and Perrish Cox should benefit from a second offseason in LeBeau’s system, but other than that, a complete overhaul is needed.
The Titans will need to address this area again this offseason, which makes the cap percentage even more alarming.
Tennessee’s offensive woes can also be tied back to questionable spending habits.
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The wide receiver position was a mirror image of the cornerbacks in 2015. Erratic, injured, and inconsistent the entire season. Yet they tie up the second most salary cap space on the team ($16,612,743 – 13.27%).
Kendall Wright‘s season was derailed by a myriad of injuries. Harry Douglas was banged up early and often, and looked a step slow when he did return for spot duty. Justin Hunter showed flashes, only to lose another season to injury.
By the end of the season, it seemed that Tennessee would hold open tryouts for the public.
And just like the cornerbacks, the wide receiver position will need to be addressed again this offseason. The Titans tied up nearly a third of their cap space on two positions, and got zero bang for their buck in return.
The offensive line, and the money spent at the respective positions, also paint a picture.
When ranking the Titans’ spending by position, here’s how the offensive line checks in.
Guard – 10th (3.51%)
Left tackle – 11th (2.50%)
Center – 15th (1.89)
Right tackle – 17th (0.63%)
The Titans invested very little in their o-line, and got what they paid for. Tennessee was 25th in rushing, and gave up the most sacks in the league last season.
In fairness to the franchise, that was the old regime. New general manager Jon Robinson and head coach Mike Mularkey will be given a clean slate.
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The Titans already had a nice spending budget before this year’s salary cap increase, so this is not about money. This is about value.
Hopefully the new regime are better bargain shoppers.