ESPN’s Tennessee Titans trade suggestion pushes me down the rabbit hole
By Will Lomas
Why would the Tennessee Titans be interested in Drake who is a UFA after this year?
Great question.
Right now, I think the Tennessee Titans know that 2020 is going to be a year where they move on from Derrick Henry and Dion Lewis. I don’t see anyway they keep either with their clear deficiencies.
So, if that is the case then it wouldn’t hurt to get a look at one of the players that you probably would have looked at in free agency anyway. Think of this as a renting to own down the line.
You may know that I am generally against signing running backs to second contracts, in large part because they rarely do anything beyond the first year (if that) that warrants the money they are making.
However, Drake is an exception because he shouldn’t break the bank and because he has had extremely little wear and tear in his 4 year NFL career. In fact, since he was drafted, Drake ranks 32nd in total touches by a running back.
To put that into context, that is less than 6 players drafted a full year after him and it would have been less than Saquon Barkley who was drafted two years after Drake, but Barkley suffered an injury this year.
TL;DR: In Drake you get the chance to rent a running back that can catch and run (averaging 35 catches per year and before this tank season averaged 4.7 YPA on the ground) and you have the option of extending him cheaply after the season.