Ranking all of the Tennessee Titans 2021 free agents through Week 8

13 of 13

Oct 13, 2020; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans tight end Jonnu Smith (81) celebrates after scoring during the second half against the Buffalo Bills at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Jonnu Smith, TE

Jonnu Smith looked like he was set for a mega payday at the start of the season, and rightfully so. After being asked to fille the incredibly large shoes left behind by Delanie Walker, Smith has done that and become someone that deserves to be featured in an offense filled with talented skill position players.

However, after being banged up for a few games I think the numbers at the end of the season aren’t going to be quite what he was expecting to start the year.

Instead of resetting the tight end market set by undeniably great tight ends like George Kittle and Travis Kelce, maybe this makes a deal much more reasonable.

Those two tight ends make right around $15 million per year, and if you exclude Hunter Henry’s franchise tag, Austin Hooper who is the next highest-paid tight end only makes $10.5 million per season.

If the Titans want to beat that number and give Smith $11 million over a four-year deal, it makes perfect sense to me and I think that this coaching staff is enthralled with him enough to even push that number higher.

Will they make him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL? No, but this is someone that has improved steadily and there is no telling where the ceiling is for him. Even if he never hits that ceiling, the prospect is going to be enough for the Titans front office and coaching staff to roll the dice on him.

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