Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker spoke about the decision to go on injured reserve and what his future holds beyond 2019.
It appears we haven’t seen the last of Tennessee Titans tight end, Delanie Walker.
The veteran tight end was placed on injured reserve last week after suffering a setback to the same ankle that he seriously injured in 2018. It’s the second straight year that Walker’s ankle has ended his season prematurely.
Because of his age (he’ll be 36 next season), there was some thought that perhaps Walker’s days playing in the NFL would be over, or at the very least, his time with the Titans might be coming to an end.
Well, Walker dispelled the notion that retirement is in his future when he spoke on Tuesday in a video shared by Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. He also made it clear that as long as the Titans want him, he definitely wants to remain with the team.
"“I got a year on my contract and I’m a Titan, so as long as the organization wants me here and believes in me, I’ll always be a Titan.”"
Walker also spoke about what made him decide to go on IR.
"“I felt good on Wednesday, but as the week progressed I felt like it wasn’t getting better the way I thought it was, I just felt like I wasn’t going to be myself, didn’t think I was 100 percent to protect myself on the field. And we had a conversation… the team and I felt it was best that maybe I try to get it fixed and get ready for the future.”"
While Walker is certainly optimistic about his future and does plan to play beyond 2019, he’s crushed by the fact that he can’t help a surging Titans team that is 5-1 in its last six games and is attempting to make a playoff run.
"“It hurts that I’m not able to help my team out and they’re doing such a good job this year, but I’m excited about what’s going on right now with the team. And that’s the disappointing part, that I feel like I’m letting myself down and the team down not being able to perform at the highest level. But I know once I get this taken care of, I’ll be back to normal and that’s the goal.”"
Walker is set to make a little over $8.3 million in 2020, but if the Titans do decide to part ways with him it’ll cost just $1.6 million in dead cap.
It remains to be seen which direction the Titans will go with the veteran tight end, as the team has a lot of decisions to make on some very important impending free agents in 2020.
What is certain is that Delanie Walker has no plans of letting a disappointing ending to another season be the final chapter of his sensational career.