Jim Wyatt has wrapped up his training camp preview series for the Tennessee Titans, and he pointed out something very interesting when he was talking about the safety position.
In this eleven-part series, he wraps up each article with a section he calls "keep an eye on" where he talks about what to watch for between now and the start of the season. Usually, this spot is reserved for noteworthy players or tweaks that the coaching staff might be making, but check out what he said during the safety breakdown.
""Keep an eye on: A veteran addition. I'm not going to name the list of safeties still available, but I suspect the team's front office and coaching staff are plenty of aware of who these guys are right now. So far, the Titans haven't brought back some of the experienced back-up safeties on the roster from a year ago. There's a chance none of them return. But the hunch here is another safety will join the mix at some point in the not so distant future.""
There are some keywords there that should set off some alarm bells. It sounds like the Titans coaches and front office are looking around at available safeties and will try to sign a veteran with experience to back up Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker.
Names that the Tennessee Titans might be interested in
Andrew Adams would be a fun player to bring back because he was a really solid replacement for Amani Hooker last season. However, the wording in that paragraph "There's a chance none of them return." makes me believe that there isn't going to be a reunion.
Someone like John Johnson could make sense considering that it hasn't been too long since he was signing a three-year deal with the Cleveland Browns for $11 million per year. The Titans have the money to make a move like that and Johnson was durable enough to last all 17 games last season for the Browns.
There is an interesting option out there who has ties to the coaching staff and who would fit as a player and from a culture standpoint, and that is former Tennessee Titans DB, Logan Ryan.
Tennessee Titans fans will remember just how solid Ryan was when he was a Titan, and the only reason why the team decided to move on from him was that he was going to have to transition from cornerback to safety due to his declining speed.
After three seasons of playing safety for the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has shown that he can be a pretty solid starter at the position.
There hasn't been much chatter about Ryan this offseason and he hasn't officially retired, so if he still has the desire to go out and play, there might not be a better situation than coming back to a team and a city he knows well and backing up his former teammates. Plus, it will give Tennessee Titans fans a chance to prove him wrong about his comments