Tennessee Titans are signing veterans after first preseason game

Football is back and in their first action of the (pre)season, the Tennessee Titans had an up-and-down game against the Chicago Bears.

In his day-after press conference, Mike Vrabel said there would be depth chart movement this week. Heading into the week of practice and the game against the Minnesota Vikings, some players will be rewarded for their hard work with more opportunities while others will start running out of chances to prove themselves.

On Monday, Mike Vrabel made things even more unsure for the Tennessee Titans players when he brought in journeyman free agents Jacques Patrick and Kyle Peko.

Peko might sound familiar to some Tennessee Titans fans and that is because he was actually on the roster in 2021. The defensive tackle will take the place of UDFA Shakel Brown who was placed on I.R.

Jacques Patrick is a new name for Titans fans, and he is a big running back who will almost certainly take Jonathan Ward's spot on the roster if he can't get back on the field quickly after his injury in Saturday's game.

While both are going to have to show up quickly if they are going to make the 53-man roster, it does bring up an interesting question. When is the perfect time to replace one of the current backups on the roster with a veteran if they don't seem like they are going to be a solid backup in 2023?

Is it time for the Tennessee Titans to shift their thinking in free agency?

While I don't think that the Tennessee Titans are in a position to go out and sign someone like Dalton Risner or Jarvis Landry, the fact that they have had Ronald Darby in for a workout means that they aren't completely out of that type of market.

Someone like Ty Nsekhe could make sense. Nsekhe has been a swing tackle for over a decade and really isn't much different than someone like George Fant other than his age.

Now sure, he isn't someone that you want to invest a lot of money in, but after seeing what the offensive tackle depth chart looked like on Saturday, you certainly would rather have a 37-year-old Nsekhe on the field than a 26-year-old Zack Johnson.

Before training camp started, it was fair to think about what players might become after they had worked with the Tennessee Titans coaching staff for an extended period of time. However, now we have a pretty good idea of what these guys look like and the season is right around the corner.

Older veterans might be more appealing after the first week of the regular season because their contract won't be guaranteed for the full year, but getting them in now means that you are going to get a month to figure out what they do well and what the don't before you have to play a meaningful game.

Keep an eye on this throughout the week and when the smoke clears after the week of practice and the game with the Minnesota Vikings.