Should the Tennessee Titans sign Tamba Hali

Should the Tennessee Titans make an offer for the veteran pass rusher Tamba Hali?

I have been screaming for the Tennessee Titans to add a pass rusher into the mix since the end of the draft. Maybe Tamba Hali is that guy.

In case you missed it, Hali went on a Twitter rant this weekend talking about his frustration with the Kansas City Chiefs. Here are some of the highlights from Mike Garafolo’s account:

As if the Chiefs' offseason wasn't dramatic enough, Tamba Hali is apparently going through a pre-camp tweeting of the grievances pic.twitter.com/rhdzCbj6Af
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 22, 2017

And don’t think it was a hack because right after that we all got this tweet:

Am told it's not a hack and his genuine tweets. Man's gotta get some stuff off his chest, I guess. https://t.co/ZLnBoW5eL7
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 22, 2017

So it looks like it all boils down to Hali feeling like he needs to see more snaps. He isn’t really complaining, but he is stating that he wishes he was a bigger part of the defense and he thinks his history has shown that.

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However, as a 34 year old pass rusher you can sort of understand where Kansas City is coming from. They have invested a first round pick and huge money into Dee Ford and Justin Houston respectively.

I don’t think that it is crazy to assume that the Chiefs could cut Hali to save over $8 million next year. That is important because if they keep all their current contracts they would actually be over the cap next year and have to make cuts anyway.

So, does it make sense to add Tamba Hali to the Tennessee Titans roster if he was cut? Well, the metrics argue against it on some level. When I asked Jim Cobern about him as a possible addition he said he would recommend only adding him at vet minimum citing this decline and general age issues:

He has a great point and the numbers to back it up. The only reason I would argue that Hali needs to be added to the Titans roster is need. Hali had a mediocre impact last year, but he also only played 599 snaps.

Compare those snaps to Brian Orakpo and Derrick Morgan average 818 snaps, and Dee Ford played 855. So essentially Hali was playing 70% of the starter snaps and he was a rotational player for them.

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That is fine and that is what he would be for Tennessee, but he would play closer to 700 snaps for the Titans. I believe he could be a great rotational player that could take a lot off of the plates of those guys.

It would be great to have a guy that could take 100 snaps off of Morgan and Orakpo and be a true rotational starter. If all three played 700 snaps it would allow them to all be fresh and provide a constant presence off of the edge.

So, if the Titans had to pay him $5 million with something like $2 million guaranteed per year for two years, I would love that deal.

For now though, all we can do is wait and see if/when Tamba Hali hits the open market.

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