4 benefits for the Tennessee Titans if they don’t sign Jadeveon Clowney

3. Ability for future moves

While the Titans saw a large number of key contributors hit the market this year, the team is still not done with seeing starters hit the market. Drafting successful rookies has put the team in handing out big extensions in recent years.

Kevin Byard saw a five year, $70.5 million extension last offseason while Henry was franchise tagged. The team has more crucial starters hitting free agency next year in Jayon Brown, Jonnu Smith, Corey Davis, and Adoree’ Jackson as well as DaQuan Jones and Derrick Henry.

If the Titans hand out a large contract to Clowney, they not only jeopardize their ability to extend those players now, but could further see more free agents leaving the team next year. Smith and Davis may come with team friendly extensions now while Brown and Jackson might command a top ten salary at their position.

The team has been hitting on every single of these decisions in recent history. Last year, they opted to hold back on extending Marcus Mariota and letting him play out his rookie contract. That proved to be franchise altering as Mariota failed to live up to expectations and backup Tannehill guided this team to it’s best finish this decade.

The Titans need to be wary of the future extensions down the line. While Davis and Jackson have fifth year options on their contracts that allow them to be at an affordable rate for another year, Brown has proven himself to be vital to the Titans defense. The team needs to save up money to keep them around for future seasons.