Did the Titans make the right call?
The Tennessee Titans had to make some tough decisions in free agency this offseason, and they got mixed results.
By far the two most important free agents were Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry, who both ended up back with the Titans on multi-year deals. However, there were several free agents beyond those two players.
Cap casualties like Ryan Succop, Cameron Wake, and Delanie Walker, along with Jurrell Casey who was traded for cap space, all left holes in their absence.
Logan Ryan was asking for $10 million per season despite having a really hard time dealing with speed all season, so the Titans had to let him walk.
Wesley Woodyard was a long-time locker room leader who also provided key depth behind starting linebacker Rashaan Evans and Jayon Brown, but with the emergence of David Long (and his speed) in the playoffs, the Titans decided to let him walk as well.
I’m not even going to talk about Marcus Mariota.
But by far the biggest free agent outside of Tannehill and Henry was former first round draft pick and starting right tackle Jack Conklin.
Tennessee GM Jon Robinson sat down and weighed his options and decided that he was basically in a position to pick one of these two options:
Option A: Jack Conklin on a 3-year, $42 million deal ($14 million AAV)
Option B: Dennis Kelly on a 3-year, $17.25 million deal ($5.75 million AAV) and a 3rd round compensatory pick
Robinson choose Option B, and it was a gamble. It was all going to hinge on one player: Dennis Kelly.