Tennessee Titans destroy Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans in free agency grades
By Will Lomas
Tennessee Titans
Grade: B
"Tennessee Titans: The Titans’ top two payers were Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry. Henry was consistent through the playoffs while Tannehill changed the offense, going 7-3 as a starter. Both will be back next season, but one could sit out if he doesn’t sign the franchise tag this offseason. The Tannehill move was necessary, but perhaps not at that price. A $114 million deal for an average starter is a huge payday that could backfire in their face. The team also had to let Conklin walk and traded away Jurrell Casey for nothing more than a seventh-round pick. But they kept the offense together so good? Yeah, good."
This seems critical when you first read it, but when you think about what is being said it makes sense why the Titans got a “B” here.
The Titans were a team that lived and died by their offense after the defense collapsed in the middle of the season. At that point they relied on phenomenal days by Derrick Henry and/or Ryan Tannehill to keep this team competitive.
So, keeping both of them should give the Titans continuity. Not only that, but they will bring back the battery that turned Tennessee’s offense into the best offense in franchise history.
The price for a QB is expensive, but already Tannehill is out of the top-10 in terms of QB salary and as the cap rises the money won’t matter. If you disagree with any of that, let me know how easy it is to find a QB cheaper than this who will win games for you at the NFL level.
Losing Conklin and Casey hurts, but at the end of the day the Titans felt more comfortable with Dennis Kelly and Jeffery Simmons than the former starters.
The draft is going to have a huge impact on this offseason for the Titans, but I think there is still one more starter out in free agency that Tennessee is going to land. Whether that is a CB or an EDGE will shift how the draft shakes out and likely will lock in the positions of two of the Titans first three picks in the 2020 NFL Draft.