Is this the Tennessee Titans strategy?
The Tennessee Titans came into free agency with four big free agents and more than $60 million in cap space.
Since then, the Titans have locked down Ryan Tannehill, Dennis Kelly, Derrick Henry, and Vic Beasley while allowing Jack Conklin to go to the Cleveland Browns. Also notable, Tennessee also traded Jurrell Casey for a 7th round pick.
Even after the projected cost of draft picks, they are still staring at nearly $20 million in cap space. That is being conservative and expecting the Vic Beasley to have all of his deal count against the cap, and thinking that the Titans aren’t trading for any future picks.
However, when you look at the price that the Titans let Jack Conklin walk for and what they got back for Jurrell Casey, it is really hard to figure out the plan here.
From a roster standpoint, they did fill all their big needs except for cornerback so I guess that makes sense, but why aren’t they using that money to go out and add another big free agent.
It is still early, but there is a chance that the Tennessee Titans are waiting to see exactly what kind of compensatory picks they may be able to get in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Right now, with no incoming free agents and with Logan Ryan, Marcus Mariota, Jack Conklin, Wesley Woodyard, and Tajae Sharpe all either already agreed to deals with other teams or likely to do so, there is a great chance that the Titans are looking at compensatory picks in the 2021 draft.
As of right now, the Tennessee Titans only have one compensatory pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but it is the third round pick that they are likely to get from losing Jack Conklin.
I think we are going to be able to tell a lot about what this team’s objective was this offseason when we see whether or not they go hard after Jadeveon Clowney and cancel that 3rd round pick out, or if they try to use the money they have left to re-sign or extend players like: Derrick Henry, Jayon Brown, Jonnu Smith, Daren Bates, or Tajae Sharpe.
Either way this shakes out, the Titans did manage to become a cheaper and younger team than they were before entering free agency. With Rodger Saffold being the oldest player on offense and Malcolm Butler being the oldest player on defense, the roster is filled with a lot more 20-somethings than 30-somethings which is a good thing.
Now, all we need to see is if this locker room is built to lose that wave of veteran leaders, or if cap decisions had to be made and they were forced out the door a little early.