The Tennessee Titans need to be aggressive when it comes to acquiring cornerbacks in NFL free agency. General manager Mike Borgonzi totally tore the room down when he traded Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and Roger McCreary during the 2025 season. The expectation is also that the oft-injured L'Jarius Sneed will be released from his contract this offseason.
There are no guaranteed starters on the roster at cornerback. It's nearly a blank slate, with rookie Marcus Harris being the only somewhat notable player at the position under contract. Even Darrell Baker Jr. and Jalyn Armour-Davis, who played fill-in roles, are free agents.
Borgonzi is equipped with a league-leading amount of cap space and the group of free-agent cornerbacks is impressive. Instant contributors and starters are slated to be available. Borgonzi's Kansas City ties to cornerback Jaylen Watson make him an obvious target.
Titans GM Mike Borgonzi could pursue CB Jaylen Watson in NFL Free Agency
The Chiefs selected Watson with a seventh-round pick (No. 243 overall) in the 2022 NFL Draft. Borgonzi was the assistant general manager at the time. Assistant GM's often possess more authority over late-round decisions, so it's possible Borgonzi was a huge reason why the Chiefs targeted Watson late.
Watson quickly outperformed his draft slot. The former Washington State standout played 605 snaps as a rookie, accounting for 52.70 percent of the Chiefs' defensive workload, per Pro Football Reference. He earned another 440 snaps as a sophomore.
This past season, Watson played a career-high 868 snaps as a starting cornerback for the first time. Pro Football Focus assigned him a stellar coverage grade of 68.4, which is impressive when considering the volume. Watson is also a willing tackler as a run defender, having produced a career-high 64 tackles en route to a PFF run-defense grade of 83.5.
Opposing quarterbacks saw a lackluster passer rating of just 69.0 when targeting Watson in coverage. He also produced six pass breakups for a fourth consecutive season, totaling 24 passes defensed throughout his career. Watson is a highly competitive player in coverage.
Spotrac is projecting Watson to sign a three-year contract worth $37.4 million in free agency. That would pay the feisty cornerback an annual average salary of $12.5 million. That feels extremely reasonable given the Titans' need at cornerback.