How can the Titans help the Giants speed up their rebuild?
The Tennessee Titans and New York Giants are two teams that are going in opposite directions.
In Tennessee, the Titans have their roster mostly complete for 2020 and beyond with 9 of 11 starters locked down on offense through at least 2021, and at least 8 of the defensive starters under contract through ’21 as well.
Meanwhile, the Giants will probably see 10 starters change between 2019 and 2020. That is completely fine by the way because there are only three players on that roster that really matter to the front office anyway: Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, and 2020 1st round pick Andrew Thomas.
Those are the players that this front office wants to build around, and those are the people that are definitely safe from any potential trade talks. Now, there are other players that they would have to be highly compensated to move, but ultimately there are no other real difference-makers here that will be with the team when they are ready to make a run.
Like most teams slated to pick in the top-5, the Giants should be trying to add as many draft picks as possible as they continue their rebuild. In fact, the year or two after you get your “franchise QB” are the years when you should add your best players.
Every QB struggles when they start and those high picks in the first few rounds usually have the most potential. For example, the year after the Tennessee Titans got Marcus Mariota, they drafted Jack Conklin, Derrick Henry and Kevin Byard.
Smart teams can really make the most of those picks, and having more picks to maneuver in those crucial drafts is important. So, which players can the Giants sell high?
Golden Tate, WR
At what point will the Tennessee Titans finally be able to bring Golden Tate home? While there haven’t been a lot of rumors connecting the team and the player outside of fan base hopes, this is almost something that makes too much sense.
At 32 years old, Golden Tate doesn’t have two more years to play on a team staring up at the rest of the division. Instead, he needs to be on a team on the rise that can use his help to get over the hump.
If he was traded, the Titans would take on his contract minus the prorated signing bonus which would end up being an average of $7.5 million over the next three years. As far as I can tell, all of that money would be non-guaranteed so even if something happened, the Titans could get out of a bad deal quickly.
Tate is a YAC machine and he has always been someone that would thrive as a WR2, but not quite on the level of a WR1. The Tennessee Titans don’t need a WR1, they already have A.J. Brown, and regardless of your feelings on Corey Davis (I am a fan) financially it makes more sense to go with Tate.
In addition to the value on the field, let me tell you some other receivers set to make money per year than Tate: Randall Cobb, DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, and Sammy Watkins.
Keep in mind that Golden Tate has averaged 60+ yards per game since leaving the Seattle Seahawks in 2014 and he has been one of the more sure-handed wide receivers in the NFL. The Giants are going to have enough mouths to feed between Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton, Evan Engram, Saquon Barkley, and Dion Lewis.
Why not go with the youth movement and let those guys grow up with your young QB?
Leonard Williams, DL
This is not a very good roster and if the Titans want a good player, they are probably going to have to take a loan player. However, Tennessee probably doesn’t plan to be big players in the free-agent market next year thanks to securing the futures of most of their starters.
So, think about this trade as Leonard Williams plus a 3rd or 4th round compensatory draft pick.
The New York Giants obviously like Williams and they didn’t want to let him walk in a season where they signed a big free agent because that would cancel out any comp. pick they would have gotten.
Instead, they tagged Williams and seem to be willing to let him walk after this season if they can’t find a trade partner.
For the Titans, Williams would be a perfect fit on a 3-man line and it gives them another interior presence if they want to add another player into the rotation. Unlike Jurrell Casey, Williams has potential long term value with Tennessee since he is only 26.
DaQuan Jones has been praised as a leader this offseason, but he is at the end of his contract and I am not sure what contract he wants long term. This is an option to get a good look at a potential star that could start in certain formations and who could become a foundational piece if everything goes correctly.
A three-man line of Jeffery Simmons, DaQuan Jones, and Leonard Williams would be a really fun group to break the narrative of the Indianapolis Colts offensive line being an unbreakable wall in front of Philip Rivers.
Markus Golden, EDGE
Turron Davenport was absolutely in love with the potential of Golden to the Tennessee Titans this offseason, and while it didn’t work out, the door isn’t shut yet.
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Golden is basically on a 1-year, $5 million deal and he is the definition of a boom or bust player. To show you what I mean, in the last four years he has had two seasons with 10+ sacks and two seasons that combined for 2.5 sacks over 15 games.
Even with some injuries over those middle two seasons, those are some bad numbers.
Golden is just a year older than Shaquil Barrett who just led the NFL in sacks after being a rotational player for his entire career. Titans fans might remember Jason Babin who came in and re-ignited his career after years of bouncing around the NFL.
With all the turmoil going on at the EDGE position for the Tennessee Titans, maybe they should just scrap the idea of Vic Beasley and bring in Markus Golden to come in on sub-packages in addition to the obligatory Jadeveon Clowney signing.