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Time to talk about Taylor Lewan’s contract with the Tennessee Titans

By Will Lomas

Oct 13, 2020; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry (22) celebrates with Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan (77) after a touchdown during the first half against the Buffalo Bills at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 13, 2020; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry (22) celebrates with Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan (77) after a touchdown during the first half against the Buffalo Bills at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski (3) fist bumps General Manager Jon Robinson before the game against the Chicago Bears at Nissan Stadium Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn.Gw59645
Tennessee Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski (3) fist bumps General Manager Jon Robinson before the game against the Chicago Bears at Nissan Stadium Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn.Gw59645 /

So…why are we talking about Taylor Lewan’s contract then?

Why am I bringing up his contract? Well, the Titans are in an interesting spot right now in terms of cap space.

If the worst happens and the salary cap is around $180 million this year, the Titans will only have about $6 million to spend. Now don’t freak out, the sky isn’t falling or anything and this graph is a good way to look at it:

That means that the Titans are in a better cap situation than playoff teams like Buffalo, Kansas City, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Chicago, the L.A. Rams, and even ahead of teams you wouldn’t expect like the Houston Texans (who are they even paying?).

But, obviously $6 million isn’t going to give you a lot of flexibility to patch some holes before the draft.

(Here is where it gets interesting)

Luckily, the fourth biggest cap hit on the Tennessee Titans roster for the 2021 season belongs to Taylor Lewan. Why is that lucky?

Lewan is entering the 4th year of a 6-year contract that was front-loaded with guaranteed money. In fact, you could almost break it down into two different 3-year deals.

Deal #1 from 2018-2020: $42 million total, $35.6 million guaranteed

Deal #2 from 2021-2023: $43.5 million total, $6.2 million guaranteed

Now, you might have noticed the MASSIVE dropoff in guaranteed money there. That is the key to this whole deal. This deal is a prime candidate for a restructure.

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