Titans free agent re-visit: Kamalei Correa for Desmond King?

Wait, how did the Titans get Des King?

The Tennessee Titans made some important moves last week, but they were moves that were actually months in the making.

Two offseason additions, Vic Beasley and Jonathan Joseph were released last week after dreadful showings in 2020. Obviously, when you sign two veteran free agents, you’re hoping to get more than half of a season out of them.

To say Joseph and Beasley were free agent disappointments would be an understatement. In fact, Beasley decided to not even show up or inform the team of his whereabouts after initially signing with the team.

While Beasley received a healthy payday from the Titans to contribute almost nothing, the signing wasn’t entirely wasteful. Beasley is a former All-Pro pass-rusher coming off of a down year, so it made sense to try him out on a one-year deal.

After 7 games, however, it was clear to Jon Robinson and everybody else with eyes that the signing was not going to work out. With Beasley gone, the Titans have been able to give more playing time to Derick Roberson and Wyatt Ray.

Jonathan Joseph was a similar case. With Adoree Jackson starting the year on Injured Reserve, it made sense to have a veteran like Joseph to fill in the gap. Unfortunately, like Beasley, the plan did not come to fruition. Joseph was dreadful in two-tone blue, and the team made the decision to cut bait this week.

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This is good news because it must mean that Jackson is almost ready to return to the field. The Titans also traded for Desmond King shortly before the deadline, so eventually, the Titans will be able to trot out a CB group including Adoree Jackson, Kristian Fulton, Desmond King, Malcolm Butler, and they may have something worth watching in Breon Borders

Speaking of King, this is an underrated move that surprisingly involved another failed Free Agent signing: Kamalei Correa.

How does this trade involve Correa you may ask? Well, it goes back to last March when Correa hit the open market after a nice finish to the 2019 season and postseason.

He didn’t have the market he hoped and decided to come back to the Titans on a cheap, one-year deal.

Then in October, the Titans shipped the disgruntled Correa to Jacksonville for a 6th-round pick who wasn’t happy rotating with Jadeveon Clowney and Vic Beasley.

Less than a month later, the Titans would use that same 6th-round pick to trade for Desmond King.

This is excellent GM work here from Robinson. Correa was unhappy, and Jacksonville had (has), a huge pass-rush problem. Robinson cashed in on the market and turned an average-at-best player into a potential pro-bowler at an area of need.

While the Beasley and Joseph signings did not pay dividends, the Kamalei Correa signing did, in a roundabout way. To recap: the Titans struck out on a couple of signings, but taking a risk on those players made sense. Robinson getting rid of these two under-performing players showed that he is not afraid to cut his losses and admit mistakes. And to top it all off, the team used another failed signing and turned him into an All-Pro cornerback in Desmond King.

We have already seen the difference some of these moves made in just one game, with Adoree Jackson’s potential return still on the horizon, maybe there is hope for this defense yet (even on days when they don’t get to play Nick Foles).

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