No one else in the NFL possesses the flexibility and cap space needed to pull off the moves that the Tennessee Titans can. However, free agency is a two-way street, and it is about maximizing your cap space while targeting the right players and positions.
Free agency comes down to supply and demand. What does that mean for the Titans' plans this offseason? The quality and the quantity of players in free agency will affect the big picture machinations that GM Mike Borgonzi has to make.
For a great example of the challenges Borgonzi must navigate this offseason, look no further than The Athletic's top 150 free agents posted by Daniel Popper.
Titans' offseason plan becomes obvious after The Athletic drops NFL Free Agency rankings list
Borgonzi understands that wide receiver and cornerback are huge positions of need. Those groups happen to be talented and deep in this free agency class, leading to multiple options. With the Titans needing multiple players at each of those positions, the depth is as important as the top-end talent available to them.
On Popper's list, the deepest position group is EDGE, where there are 20 players in the top 150, with seven of them landing inside the top 50. The Titans recently landed Jermaine Johnson II via trade, lessening their need at EDGE.
Femi Oladejo and Jaylen Harrell are penciled in as rotational players at EDGE. Trading for Johnson allowed them to get some veteran experience on the line without blocking the pathway for a high draft pick to take the field.
Behind EDGE is the wide receiver position, where 16 players made the cut, and half of those players landed inside the top 50.
The number of receivers that are available that actually fit what the Titans need is murky because Mike Evans and Wan'Dale Robinson are both receivers, but they do much different things for an offense. However, the depth at this position means that they can find at least one starting-caliber receiver, and based on what they add, they can grab another one to round out their depth chart in the draft.
Lastly is cornerback, which should be concerning for the Titans. The draft doesn't have an elite cornerback prospect to target, so the hope was that there would be plenty of veteran options in free agency. However, only 13 cornerbacks made the list, with just five inside the top 50.
It will be interesting to see how passive the Titans are at cornerback in free agency, because if they are aggressive, it means that they think they are ready to compete this year or that they value cornerback higher than last season's trades of Roger McCreary and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. might suggest.
If they sit back and just sign someone from the bottom of the pile, it suggests the opposite, and it could be a sign that another rebuilding year is coming because the front office thinks that this team is too far away to make overly aggressive moves.