Titans are exploiting the offensive line market...for now

Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon has a chance to win the Executive of the Year award at the end of the season based on what he did for the franchise this offseason.

The Titans needed an injection of young talent and new ideas in the worst way, and you can tell that Carthon knew that when you look at his moves over the last six months.

Everything started with a bang when he moved on from the past regime and hired coveted coaches like Brian Callahan, Bill Callahan, and Dennard Wilson. After that, he went to work in free agency by adding a dozen new starters based on traits and characteristics that fit the new schemes.

Carthon made noise with names like L'Jarius Sneed and Calvin Ridley, but he took a different approach when it came to fixing the Titans' biggest problem, the offensive line. Carthon did invest premium resources on the left side by adding J.C. Latham and Lloyd Cushenberry, but the right side of the line received little attention by comparison.

Value on the offensive line is hard to find in today's NFL because the price of offensive linemen has skyrocketed in the last few seasons. Franchise tag prices tell the story here.

The salary cap is finally recovering from what COVID and the 2020 season did, which means that franchise tags finally reflect what is going on in the free agent market. The last time that franchise tags were this accurate was before the 2020 season, and since then, the tag for offensive linemen has gone up from $14.8 million to $21 million, which is a 42% increase.

The only other positions with price tags growing at that rate are quarterback, safety, and linebacker (though some of that is because of the issue separating linebacker from EDGE).

Things will only continue to get more expensive after the Denver Broncos gave Quinn Meinerz a deal worth $20 million annually on Tuesday. If you are unaware, Meinerz is a good guard but he isn't the best guard in the league. He was an honorable mention on ESPN's most recent interior offensive line rankings.

Back to the Titans where Carthon was tasked with figuring out new starters at four of the offensive line spots. Instead of getting into big money battles for the top guards and tackles, he zigged when everyone else zagged.

They did add one aforementioned blue-chip free agent offensive lineman in Cushenberry, but the Titans were able to add a top-five center in the NFL on a contract that cost them a fair $12.5 million per season.

With Cushenberry in place and a cheap starter at left guard in Peter Skoronski, the Titans focused on using their money on the big moves I mentioned earlier. By bringing in Ridley and Sneed, there was only one option for the Titans in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, offensive tackle.

So while everyone was figuring out how to set the market at guard, the Titans acquired two elite players at need positions without paying them top-10 money at their position.

In addition to that, the Titans brought in Saahdiq Charles on a 1-year, $1.5 million deal and put him on the inside track to start at right guard. Next to him, they are going to let Nicholas Petit-Frere, Jaelyn Duncan, and John Ojukwu battle it out at right tackle. All three of those players remain on affordable rookie contracts.

The only reason the Titans believe they can get by with that strategy is because they have legendary offensive line coach Bill Callahan. He'll oversee these position battles by putting them in positions to succeed.

By supplementing premium talent (Latham, Skoronski, and Cushenberry) with good fits that were hand-selected by Bill Callahan, the Titans were able to bend free agency to suit their needs. This tactical decision will be weighed by 2024's production.

If right guard and right tackle are problem spots throughout 2024, then Carthon may have to spend premium resources on both positions next offseason. Things are only getting more expensive when it comes to offensive linemen, so the decision to place faith in Charles and Petit-Frere is one that will have major ramifications down the line.