The 2024 NFL Draft is less than a month and a half away at this point and things have slowed down for the Tennessee Titans in free agency.
By now you know that I went into free agency with a list of 10 needs that the Tennessee Titans had as well as a request that they sign at least one (but ideally two) premium players to fill those positions of need before the draft.
So far Ran Carthon has done a very good job with those requests. Below is a list of where that to-do list stands right now and the premium additions have an asterisk next to their name.
Needs filled:
-C: Lloyd Cushenberry*, 4 years/$50 million ($12.5 million AAV)
-LB: Kenneth Murray, 2 years/$18 million ($9 million AAV)
-CB1: Chidobe Awuzie, 3 years/$36 million ($12 million AAV)
-WR2: Calvin Ridley*, 4 years/$92 million ($23 million AAV)
-WR (vertical threat/playmaker): Calvin Ridley,(he fills both roles)
There is still work to do at linebacker if the Tennessee Titans want that group to be good, but it seems like they are fine with just patching up that unit and kicking that can down the road.
The Tennessee Titans have work to do before the draft
Despite the great start, the Titans still have plenty of needs. There are some things you can say about depth or role players, but when you just look at starting positions that need to be bolstered these are the five big needs they have left
Needs remaining:
-LT
-RT
-DT (1-tech)
-CB2
-Safety
The free agent market hasn't completely dried up, but if the Titans were in love with someone at any of those spots, you have to think that they would have figured out a deal with them by now. So, what can they do about those holes?
Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, I think we are all 90% certain that the Tennessee Titans are going to address left tackle in the 2024 NFL Draft, so we can pencil in that need right now.
I still think that the Tennessee Titans will add a free agent tackle for depth, but I believe that this coaching staff feels like they already have a starting tackle on the roster. Between Dillon Radunz and Nicholas Petit-Frere, there have been enough flashes to consider rolling the dice and letting the winner of a training camp battle start at right tackle for the Titans in Week 1. Remember, this is the first time that either player will have had an offensive line coach who deserves to have a job in the NFL, so don't write them off completely.
That leaves defensive tackle, safety, and another boundary cornerback as the biggest needs left on the board.
The Tennessee Titans have shown interest in safeties Marcus Maye and Justin Simmons, and neither player has signed with a team yet. Considering the depth of the safety market, that could be a place where the Titans just slow-play that and then make their move once prices have dropped.
Now we are talking about two major needs left unresolved. I don't know how risky Brian Callahan wants to be, but there is enough depth in this draft class to assume that the Tennessee Titans could spend their second-round pick on a defensive tackle or a cornerback. Normally you don't want to enter a draft with your hands tied behind your back in terms of which position you are going to draft, but when you look at this class and where it is deep, it makes some sense to project a rookie starter on defense in the second round.
The Titans could elect to narrow their focus to the best available cornerback or defensive lineman with that pick and then just pray for the best at the other position.
While I think Ran Carthon has done a good job to start this offseason, he is going to have to earn his money over the next four weeks. As things stand now, there are too many holes and not enough solutions and he is going to have to pull a solution out of nowhere.
Maybe that means pushing and landing L'Jarius Sneed in a second-round pick swap. That would solve cornerback and it would allow the Titans to take a defensive tackle in the bottom of the second round. Or maybe the Titans sign one of the veteran cornerbacks like Stephon Gilmore, Rock Ya-Sin, or Steven Nelson as a bridge guy in front of a developmental Day 3 pick?
It is hard to say what is next, but every day that the Tennessee Titans go on without finding bodies to fill these holes is another day that makes the first few days of free agency look like a great start to an incomplete process. There is still time, but that can't keep the Titans from being aggressive over the next week or so.