Tennessee Titans would be wise to sign defensive end Justin Houston

The Tennessee Titans have retooled their entire defense this offseason from signing a blue-chip pass rusher in Bud Dupree to spending a first-round draft pick on Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley.

When free agents are brought up for the Tennessee Titans, everyone rushes to talk about tight ends and wide receivers because that may be an area of weakness for the team. While there is a strong argument that the team has already done enough at the position, it never hurts to add more players to an area of weakness.

In fact, that is a big reason why Titans fans should look at someone like Justin Houston.

Despite adding Bud Dupree, Denico Autry, and Rashad Weaver to a group of pass rushers that already included Harold Landry, it never hurts to get better at rushing the quarterback.

Why should the Tennessee Titans sign him now?

Monday morning, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Ryan Kerrigan, the EDGE who spent his entire career with their NFC East rivals the Washington Football Team.

That is important because, before Monday, the three biggest names on the free-agent market regardless of positions were Kerrigan, Houston, and Melvin Ingram. Those three veteran EDGEs seemed to be holding out until one of the others set the market for their services.

Now the Eagles have done that and Justin Houston should be ready to start a conversation.

Coincidentally, the Titans also just finished their rookie minicamp where they were able to get a look at Rashad Weaver, one of their 4th round draft picks. While Weaver spent most of his career lined up like a true EDGE in the C-gap, there is a wrinkle to his game that isn’t getting talked about enough.

During the Senior Bowl game, Weaver played nearly all of his snaps inside, lined up as a defensive tackle in the B-gap. With the frame to line up inside or outside, the Titans should be able to get him onto the field early and often in his rookie season.

However, a strong argument can be made that limiting him to just one of those roles in training camp and hopefully his entire rookie season, would make his transition to the NFL a smooth one. That is where Justin Houston comes in to play.

With Justin Houston’s market more apparent, signing the veteran EDGE would kill two birds with one stone. Now the only question is whether the Tennessee Titans will be able to sign him before another team realizes they need him more.