Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - DeAndre Hopkins Visiting Tennessee Titans, How To Afford Hopkins & Offense Gets Revenge in Minicamp

Episode Date: June 7, 2023

The Tennessee Titans have a visit scheduled with DeAndre Hopkins on Sunday and it could change the ceiling for the Titans in 2023 if he is signed. How would the Titans afford it though? Tyler breaks down all the ways the Titans could sign Hopkins if he chooses to come to the Titans. Finally, the Titans offense got revenge on the defense at Wednesday's minicamp! Go over all the highlights and standouts from practice including Ryan Tannehill, Treylon Burks and Colten Dowell!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/lockedonnfl and when you enter promo code, LOCKEDONNFL, they’ll throw in a free custom birddogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Titans fans, DeAndre Hopkins is set to meet with the Tennessee Titans. Let's get it. You are locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Lockdown Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. DeAndre Hopkins is set to visit the Tennessee Titans. I'm going to break down when it's happening, what it means, how this changes the Titans outlook for the season. If Hopkins does sign, how the Titans can afford to sign.

DeAndre Hopkins and the Titans offense strikes back at mandatory minicamp. We got a lot to talk about on today's show. Before we dive into it, do want to let you know that this episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Go to birddogs.com slash LockedOnNFL and when you enter promo code LockedOnNFL, they'll throw in a free custom

Bird Dogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order. Also, want to thank you guys for making the LockedOn Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on YouTube, your favorite podcast app. Doesn't matter where, you're going to find the Locked on Titans podcast there

all year long and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Can't wait to break down minicamp again tomorrow to round out the week here on the Locked on Titans podcast. We've been breaking down all the biggest news and as the DeAndre Hopkins

visit happens on Sunday, I'm going to be here to recap all of the news, everything you need to know on the Locked on Titans podcast. Make sure you hit subscribe, hit that notification bell, throw a thumbs up on the video right now. If you're watching, definitely do appreciate it.

But we got the news halfway through the day. DeAndre Hopkins will visit with the Tennessee Titans according to Tom Pelissero from NFL Network. Mike Vrabel confirmed it after practice as well. Mike Vrabel talked about whether or not this is essentially a recruiting pitch for DeAndre Hopkins. Vrabel said, quote, I'm past recruiting. I did it in college. The one thing that Vrabel did say that stood out, though,

when talking about DeAndre Hopkins' visit set for Sunday, he said, quote, we want people that want to be here. We want people that want to be here. So to me, I don't think this will come down to money. I don't think this will come down to whether the Titans think they can make a significant change in their win total with the player. I don't think it'll come down to, honestly, whether DeAndre Hopkins wants to sign. This will come down to whether Mike Vrabel thinks that DeAndre Hopkins is bought in to being a Tennessee Titan. If he is, I think the Titans don't let him leave without an offer that he can't refuse

because they can certainly make one. And we're going to talk about how the Titans can afford a deal with Hopkins next. But really what I want to talk about right now is what the signing of DeAndre Hopkins could mean for the Titans. And I think the big thing is I have been saying all offseason that the Titans need to choose a path. They need to choose a path. And the path either needs to be catered to the young

guys, care about the future, or the path needs to be going all out and going all in to have a, basically a last dance run with Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry and Kevin Byard. And it looks like the Titans want to do that last dance run. Well, if they want to go with that and they want to get this last season out of Tannehill they want to go with that and they want to get this last season out of Tannehill and Henry in this score, then they need to give them a realistic chance. They need to go out there and make a trade, make a move,

find a way to improve this team in the areas where it clearly needs it. And obviously, we're talking about wide receiver. So to me, more than anything, this is confirmation that the Titans are looking to make that one last push here with Tannehill, with Henry. They're willing to go out and make the moves necessary to go down that path and actually commit to that path. Like I said, the Titans taking Will Levis and Tajay Spears might help right away, but taking Will Levis and

taking a quarterback and a running back with their second and third round picks, when you could have had players at positions of need to help this team make one last push, it almost replaces some of their draft picks next year. So although the Titans are missing some picks next year, if you add in Levis and you add in Spears, even a Jalen Duncan,

it's almost like you can add those guys to next year's draft class. But that thought process, that optimism there only works if the Titans go out and get veterans to address some of the needs that they have right now. And obviously Hopkins is at the top of that list. I talked about the Titans ceiling earlier this week. My everydayers would remember the conversation. We talked about what the Titans ceiling is. I said 11 wins. We talked about how they could get there. I think Hopkins does raise the Titans ceiling another win.

I think that Hopkins would put the Titans in a position to maybe just be a little touch below that 2021 team, but be right there in terms of where I think they could go throughout the season. I think if you get Hopkins in, you have the ability to win the division. You have the ability to maybe go 12-5. You have the ability to be in a first-round playoff game with the ability to win it, even if I'm not certain that they would be able to accomplish it. I think adding a guy like Hopkins, the biggest weakness of the team, the Titans ceiling, even if it's just by one win. To me, it means more

than just one win. It means what they have the ability to do out on the field. So, and look, will it work? I know a lot of you guys are in the comments already telling me about Julio Jones and Randy Moss and DeAndre Hopkins. And I get it. But listen, guys. If the Titans don't do this, and they go into the season with the roster that they currently have and don't make any legitimate additions at wide receiver, then this team is looking at what? 9-8?

8-9? 7-10? Realistically speaking, how exciting is that? How exciting is it ultimately going to be? At minimum, Hopkins Edition, add some excitement. And isn't that what being a fan of the team is all about, is being excited about the team? This would allow us, whether misguided or not,

to be much more excited about this team's chances than if they don't do it. So although there is some risk involved, and although it may be the same old story, you don't have to trade picks like you did for Robert Woods and like you did for Julio Jones. This would be just a pure contract. And we're going to talk about the financial aspect of it,

but what I just want to focus on here is this raises the ceiling of a team and allows us to have a level of excitement about the team that we currently don't have. And I think that that is huge. I want the Titans to fully embrace the future. It's no secret that that's what I want. But if they're going to do this last dance path with Tannehill and Henry, then give them a real shot and give us something to be excited about. At least allow me to buy into it.

With the current receiver core, I can't buy into excitement for a last dance with Tannehill and Henry and Byard. But if they go get Hopkins, then we can allow ourselves to get there. And also, you talk about like the pricing of the deal and how it impacts the future. That may not work out, but we're going to talk about why it's certainly worth the try because with the position the Titans are in,

the financial downside to this, if they do it correctly, it's not really that big of a deal like it has been with Julio and Woods and players before. So I'm going to break down the financial side of the DeAndre Hopkins thing, but more importantly than anything to me, it's about being excited, about having hope for the team, and Hopkins would, Hop would put the HOP in hope for me, and I think a lot of people would feel the same, but before we move forward to talk about the financial aspect and how the Titans can actually get this done, do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Guys, Bird Dogs just put out a stretch khaki short that is perfect for the summer.

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You won't want to take your bird dogs off. I promise you, like I literally promise you they're the Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about the DeAndre Hopkins visit, the news, but more what it would mean for the team, what it would mean for the fan base. But I'm sure during that, a lot of people are wondering, well, how can the Titans even afford this? How much cap space do they have? I'm going to talk about that exactly and break down multiple paths the Titans would have to signing DeAndre Hopkins.

And at the end of the show, we got to break down everything that happened at minicamp and how the offense struck back against the defense who dominated yesterday. So much to talk about. Still can't wait to get into all of it. Before we do, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on YouTube, your favorite podcast

app all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. But number one, the Titans have about $8 million in salary cap space right now. So that's where they're at. Is that enough to sign DeAndre Hopkins? Maybe. It depends. So let's talk about the paths that the Titans have right now. So, number one, I think two candidates that the Titans could potentially do a restructure of their contract. What you do when you restructure a contract is you take money from the salary that a player is owed.

Think about the aspects of a contract. You have bonus money, and then you have salary. So, you take from a player's own. Think about the aspects of a contract. You have bonus money and then you have salary. So you take from a player's salary and you turn that money into bonus money. Okay, so for example, Harold Landry, $18 million. The Titans take $10 million away from his salary and drop it to $8 million.

They turn that $10 million into bonus money, which the player is going to accept because, hey, you're going to give me $10 million of my money right now up front? Awesome. That's why the players have to agree to restructure. No, they got to agree to take a pay cut. Players don't have to agree to a restructure. And why wouldn't they agree? They're going to get more of their money right now. They're not losing any money. So just

to clear that up, but you have salary, you have bonus. Let's say it's $18 million in salary. Take 10 million off the salary, convert that to bonus money, which the player would get right away. All right. And that would take the salary down to 88 million, and then you'd take the $10 million in money that you took off the salary, and you'd split that up throughout the remainder of the contract, which let's say there's four years left. That'd be $2.5 million. So now, instead of Harold Landry having $18 million in salary cap hit, you drop the salary down to $8 million 2.5 of a spread out bonus,

and now you're at 10.5 million for the year, and you've saved yourself $8 million on the salary cap. Okay, so the Titans could do a restructure with Harold Landry. That would make sense with this point in his contract if they feel comfortable with where he's at injury-wise. But here's my thing why it's not really even about that. The Titans have so much salary cap space in 2024 and 2025 that even if they have to eat some dead money in a couple of years because Harold Landry doesn't come back the same, it's not going to hurt them as bad as those dead cap hits

are hurting the Titans right now with like a Bud Dupree. It's not going to hurt them as bad because they'll have so much more cap space, unfortunately, because they missed on first round and second round picks over the last few years. But it's not as big of a deal to maybe push some money out into the future.

You could do a similar thing with Kevin Byard as well, who's making $19 million against the salary cap this year. You could do a similar thing with Kevin Byard as well, who's making $19 million against the salary cap this year. You could do a restructure with Byard. Look, Byard's an older player. Maybe kicking the can down the road financially is a little risky. But again, with the salary cap space the Titans should have the next two seasons, it's something that I think they'd be willing to stomach to give themselves a legitimate opportunity to land DeAndre Hopkins and change the talent on the roster. And again, what we talked about in the first segment,

giving this team a realistic chance to go all in in one last season with Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill and Kevin Byer. Like, it would be worth it. They can absorb the hit in the next two years financially. They're in a position to do that. If you don't want to do restructures, you could do an extension for Ryan Tannehill,

Derrick Henry, even Kevin Byard as well. Now, I think Derrick Henry would make sense. Maybe extend him one more year. His cap hit this year is $16 million. If you can get that cut in half, you give yourself now $16 million in cap space to deal with Hopkins and maybe give him a little bit more money up front

so you don't have to kick the can down the road on his contract, which is something that they could do based on the last option, which look at Odell Beckham's contract for the Ravens. I've shown it before. I've talked about it before on the show. My everydayers would know. The Ravens gave Odell Beckham a one-year contract worth $15 million. But for salary cap purposes, it looks like a five-year contract with four void years on it,

which spread out the bonus. So they basically gave Odell Beckham a couple million in salary, gave him like $11 million in bonus, and then spread the bonus throughout five years. Now, they're going to have to eat all of that money after the season, next offseason. So they're going to have to eat the total 11 million remaining in void years for Odell Beckham next year. But if the Titans did that deal, they're going to have nearly 80 to 100 million dollars in cap space next year. So eating $11 million to have DeAndre Hopkins for a true one last dance.

Who cares next year? They're down to $69 million in cap space. They're down to $77 million in cap space. And who do they have that they need to sign? You see what I'm saying? They already got Simmons done. So for me whether they do restructures for players

whether they decide to do extensions for players whether they just give DeAndre Hopkins a big deal that has a ton of void years in it where they're willing to eat the dead money on him in the next two seasons if it doesn't go well I think different than the OBJ deal. What the Titans should do is they should realistically give Hopkins a two-year deal that looks like a four-year deal

or a five-year deal with void years so that they can cut him after that second year and in 2025 eat $10 million to $15 million in dead money. But again, they're going to have so much cap space then. Who cares? It's not going to hurt them like how Julio or Robert Woods' dead cap has hurt them the last two off seasons. It's not going to hurt them the same

because they're going to be in a totally different financial situation. So for me, I would rather them just give a one or two-year deal, Odell Beckham Jr. style to Hopkins and do it that way. And just, hey, if we got to eat Hopkins money, we Hopkins money rather than do something with somebody who's currently on the team like Tannehill or Henry or Bayard or Landry. So they have tons of options, to whatever they think is the smartest way forward. They can do it easily. So don't let anybody tell you that the Titans can't afford DeAndre Hopkins because they certainly can, and there's a multitude of different ways to do it.

But we're going to move forward. We got to talk about Titans. Minicamp, the offense, got some revenge on the defense on Wednesday. I'm going to break down everything you need to know, including the performance of the quarterbacks, including Tannehill and Willis, who had pretty good days out there. So we're going to get into that in just a moment. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the DeAndre Hopkins visit,

what it would mean for the team if he was signed, talked about how the Titans can afford it. They have a ton of different ways to add DeAndre Hopkins to the roster, whatever they want to do. But now I want to break down what happened at Titans minicamp on Wednesday. The defense won the day on Tuesday, but the offense got some revenge on Wednesday. Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all

year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. Got a lot of content coming your guys' way throughout the summer, throughout the gap between minicamp and training camp as well. So make sure you stay locked in here to the Locked on Titans podcast. But the offense got revenge.

Ryan Tannehill was sharp on the day. Ryan Tannehill was locked in. The Titans did a lot of red zone work on Wednesday. Mike Vrabel talked about it after Tuesday. They did some first down, second down, third down stuff. They really took a focus on the red zone, high red zone, low red zone on Wednesday, and Tannehill was dealing. He was simply dealing. At one point, he threw three touchdowns in a row. He threw one on a back shoulder to NWI. He threw one on a back shoulder to NWI. He threw one on a crossing route to Traylon Burks.

And then he threw one to Jonathan Ward as well. Jonathan Ward, dark horse to make the roster. He's kind of like a backup Tajay Spears. I don't think the Titans want to get caught with their pants down, not having a receiving back this year. So like they did last year after Hilliard went down. So, Jonathan Ward, I got to keep an eye on. During a low red zone period, team period, at the end, each quarterback had three reps

and there were nine reps total. The Titans had six completions out of the nine reps, had five touchdowns out of the nine reps, and got one pass interference penalty of the nine reps, had five touchdowns out of the nine reps, and got one pass interference penalty during the nine reps. So seven of the nine reps, the Titans got a productive play down in the red zone out of all of the quarterbacks, not just Ryan Tannehill. So I thought that was good to see the offense bounce back after the day that the defense had yesterday. Also, Traylon Burks. I mean, he had two touchdowns on the day. One touchdown where he beat Kevin Byard on a crossing route,

had Kevin Byard on his back, made the catch. Another one where he ripped it away from Roger McCreary. I mean, Jim Wyatt said in his observations, team writer for the Titans, that he just looks like a totally different player on the practice field. Different confidence. I know this sounds weird,

but I always look at players' interviews, like with the media. Whatever, call it witch doctor if you want, but I could just tell how guys are feeling, you know, by how they talk. It's not everything, but it's something that I read into probably a little more than I should. But Burks, I agree.

He just, he's speaking with more confidence. And it was funny, at the press conference after practice, Traylon Burks said that he likes hanging out with Colton Dow because Dow knows everything. Like, Dow knows every play, what he's supposed to do, where he's supposed to go, all that. And Burks said that's something that he kind of struggled with in his rookie season. And I kind of interpret that as Burke's likes to stick with Dallas. Dow can tell him what to do

if he forgets. But, you know, that's just my interpretation. But either way, Burke said he's playing fast, confident, doesn't have to overthink things. And I think all that comes into he just is in a good spot. So very excited for Traylon Burks. Imagine if they had DeAndre Hopkins do it. You guys want me to change my tune on the wide receiver group? If you have DeAndre Hopkins, Traylon Burks, and Kyle Phillips, now we are talking about a real NFL wide receiver group.

It would be like, you know, in the middle part of the NFL, maybe even close to the top 10 at that point with what I think Burks can do. And Hopkins at his best. I mean, you know, but anyways, we got more to talk about going forward. Speaking of Colton Dow, he had two touchdowns on the day. Dow looked really good. He caught a touchdown from Malik. He caught a touchdown from Levis. He's really been improving. He's a rookie. So obviously there are ups and downs, but Colton Dow, I told you, if it was between Racey McMath and Colton Dow, I'm keeping Colton Dow. I just think he's a better receiver, and Racey could be a better special teams player, but I think Dow can be a better

special teams player than Racey can be a receiver, so when it balances out, give me Colton Dow, but strong day from Colton Dow, two touchdowns. Malik, let's talk about the quarterbacks. Malik, strong finish to practice in that red zone period I've been talking about. He ran for a touchdown. He drew a pass interference on one of his throws to Josh Wiley. He threw a touchdown to Karis Jackson as well. Good job, Malik Willis. Even Will Levis, he threw a touchdown.

He had a nice run. At one point, he had three straight completions in practice. So all of the quarterbacks and the offense in general had a much better day today than they did yesterday, even if it was up and down. I said the offense got revenge, but it didn't totally win the day. The defense still got theirs, but a much better performance from the offense.

Mike Vrabel said the quarterback reps between Levis and Willis are being split 50-50. They get Tannehill in there to do his work, and then they try to split it 50-50, so that's interesting. Elijah Molden back on the practice field, so I thought that was pretty good news. Caleb Shudick back, or Shudack, Shudick,

whatever, it goes back and forth in my mind. Caleb Shudick went seven for eight. No Trey Wolf. So it appears that rather than Caleb being injured, it was the Titans are just giving the kickers on and off days. You know what I mean? Because all the other open OTAs reports were that Shudak didn't kick. So it was only Trey Wolf.

So was he hurt? No, it just, they've been going on and off and it just happened to be a coincidence that both, or all of the open OTAs were with Wolfe kicking. So, Shudduck fine.

Went seven for eight on the day. Still no Caleb Farley. Still no Christian Fulton. No Josh Thompson. No Harold Landry. Although Mike Vrabel did say Harold Landry's rehab is going along very well. What else is he going to say though? Sam Okwe, no Harold Landry although Mike Vrabel did say Harold Landry's rehab is going along very well what else is he going to say though? Sam Okwe, no news, still not showing

Dylan Radins, Trevon Wesko, still not there obviously dealing with injuries so that's about attendance. I do want to mention I told myself I would get this in, Eric Gar the undrafted free agent defensive back cornerback, and then Chris Jackson, who is still somehow with the organization in his fourth season, both of them had pretty good days in coverage.

So, thought I'd throw that in there at the end. Not the most known or most cared about players of all time, but they deserve their comeuppance and their credit. But that is going to do it for me today, folks. What an episode. So much to talk about.

Can't wait to be back tomorrow to break another practice down with you guys. That is going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.