Tennessee Titans re-sign CB Tye Smith ahead of 2020 NFL Draft
By Ravi Konjeti
The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms with CB Tye Smith to bring him back for one more season.
The Tennessee Titans have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent cornerback Tye Smith. Smith returns to the Titans to provide added depth at the position and continuity.
Smith joins Adoree’ Jackson, Malcolm Butler, Chris Milton, Kenneth Durden and Kareem Orr in the secondary.
Smith has played in 24 regular season games for the Titans with four starts since 2017. Smith saw his snaps uptick after an injury to Butler last season that pushed him to starter in three games for the team.
In his limited time, Smith had a significant impact on the team’s success. He forced two fumbles, one of which came in Week 14 against the Raiders while the other came a week before against the Indianapolis Colts.
Smith recorded a forced fumble and a return touchdown on a game-winning blocked field goal against the Colts in a crucial matchup that helped propel the team to the playoffs. Smith even has playoff experience with the Titans as he started in the two 2017 playoff games.
The Titans moved to sign Smith a couple of days prior to the draft, potentially highlighting the team’s strategy and thinking to fill out the roster with role players. While the team may look to find a long-term solution at corner early in the draft, the Titans could elect to reserve later draft picks at other positions.
The Titans have filled the hole left by LeShaun Sims and can focus on adding a slot corner to find a replacement for Logan Ryan. Smith gives the Titans a solid special teamer and cornerback depth, relieving some of the stress for the front office to add quality depth at the position.
With only four cornerbacks on the roster before this transition, Tennessee would have needed to add at least two cornerbacks that they considered worthy of a spot on the regular season roster.
With just four picks in the top-200 selections, that would have been very difficult to address without missing out on better talent on Day 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft.