Option B: Sign Ndamukong Suh to a 1 year/$10 million deal
Ndamukong Suh is a product of a potential shift in NFL front offices as a mercenary. A guy that signs one-year deals and renegotiates after the season is over to give himself the best chance to maximize his worth.
As a fan, that sucks because it is very hard to get value on a contract. As someone with a job, I say make your money. If you are that confident in your play that you think every year you will increase in value year I completely get it.
People talk about the 2019 NFL Draft class being loaded with defensive tackle talent and they are right. Three or four defensive tackles could go in the first year and all of them could be a better player than their draft slot suggests.
However, think about this from the macro perspective. The Titans are going into 2019 with four (non-Jurrell Casey) defensive tackles: Austin Johnson, DaQuan Jones, Darius Kilgo, and Matt Dickerson.
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Next year the Tennessee Titans can cut Jones and get $7 million which is a move I really expect unless he just destroys teams this year. They also are scheduled to lose Austin Johnson and Darius Kilgo which I also expect to happen.
Even if the Titans sign Suh to a big one-year deal, next year they are going to have two defensive tackles under contract: Jurrell Casey and Matt Dickerson.
The plan should be to add an immediate impact player in Suh and then supplement him in the draft with someone you believe will be a high upside starter in 2020. Let’s say the Titans land Christian Wilkins, they can rotate him, Suh and Casey knowing that in 2020 he will have to start beside Casey on that defensive line.
If the Titans don’t do this, they essentially have two options: start a problematic defensive line that got pushed around for long stretches or play a rookie for 50 percent or more of the snaps.
This gives Tennessee some valuable time to let a defensive tackle learn the system and develop his skill set so they can take over next year. In the meantime, you get one of the best run defenders in football who adds a mean streak to your team and likely gives you 5+ sacks in the process.
Also, if you draft a guy and realize he isn’t going to make a big impact you can relax knowing that you could re-sign Suh or go out and get one of the many talented DTs that will hit free agency next year: