Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Free agents that could help the Titans; Looking ahead to 2020 contracts

Episode Date: May 8, 2019

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Welcome in to another edition of Locked on Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you today? Doing pretty good. What's going on, man? Not a whole lot. We're going to talk a little bit about some available free agents that we think could help the Titans. We're also going to talk about some contracts that will be expiring at the end of 2019 season, and talk about what the Titans should do with those guys, whether or not we think they should get a contract extension or wait and see how things play out, or if it's a guy that probably is not going to be on this roster in 2020 anyway. So we're going to talk through some of those situations.

Before we do that today, I want to remind you that we write for MutantCityMiracles.com. We're a company of the Titans for SB Nation, so you can check us out there. You can also follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry is at tlamberttn. You can get the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Just search out Locked on Titans.

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All right, so yesterday, being Tuesday, the deal ended where if you signed an NFL free agent, it counted against your compensatory pick calculation for 2020. If you're not familiar with that, basically how it works out is they look at free agents you lost versus free agents you signed, and if you had a significant loss in talent there based on a myriad of factors, that's how teams get awarded compensatory picks in the next year's draft. I don't think the Titans are in line for any compensatory picks. They signed some pretty headline free agents and really only lost Quentin Spain.

So not really something that was a factor for the Titans anyway. But it was definitely something that some teams were probably waiting for that clock to run out before they dipped their toes back into this third or fourth wave of free agency wherever we are at this point. And so I was just kind of looking around yesterday, looking through some guys available that could help the Titans. You know, there's still some guys out there that can move the needle a little bit for this team. And, you know, if we're going to have this conversation, I think you have to start with Ndamukong Su.

You know, from all reports, the Titans have not been interested in him yet this offseason. Don't know if they will be or not. Any of these lists that I've seen on the Internet have been tied into the Colts. Makes sense because they have a need up front, and they still have plenty of cap space to get it done. You know, he's still a guy that I think could come in and help the titans if if that was a road they wanted to go down but i'm just not sure with everything else that's can that you know plays in now if that's something they're going to want to do but if you're looking at these lists you're looking at guys that are available you kind of have to put him at the top of yeah if they him, he would come in and make a big difference right away.

Yeah, and look, he makes sense. You know, you got Jeffrey Simmons, you're going to have to wait on him. So you bring Sue in, that's a guy that can immediately make a difference up front. But the question is, what's he going to command? You know, there's going to be another one-year deal. What would he take? Would he come and play in Nashville, You know, there's going to be another one-year deal.

What would he take? Would he come and play in Nashville? Or would he want to go to another, perhaps a bigger contender? I think it's going to be a marriage of both of those things, whichever contender is going to offer him the most money. So, I don't know. With Brent Urban here now, that's not a real sexy signing, but that's still a guy that can come in and start a few games for you, at least a Band-Aid until Simmons gets ready to go.

I just don't see the Titans going down this road. If they're going to address it, I think they could sign a nose tackle, sort of like the Benny Logan signing from last year. We've seen John Robinson sign a nose tackle pretty late in every free agency cycle. So I think if they could sign a nose, I'd be pretty shocked at this point if they did bring in Sue. But again, it makes sense. It would be a really aggressive move. But I think he's pretty happy with what he's got, maybe outside of nose tackle.

Yeah, I mean, they don't have any really huge holes left at this point and then again when you get into these lists of guys that are available it's not like there's a huge need I mean a huge list of guys that are really going to come in and help I think that there's a couple defensive line guys I mean you got Muhammad Wilkerson out there I think he's a guy that if they wanted to add another piece up front that could do some things, I mean, I think he would be interesting. But, again, not sure how interested they are in that. Like you said, nose tackle does make the most sense. The other thing is there's a few edge guys.

I mean, you've got Ezekiel Ansa who's still unsigned. I guess there's questions about his health um derrick morgan pops up on these lists too as a guy that's still available but you know the titans they have an interesting mix at edge right now i mean i think they have enough bodies and you were saying and i think you made a good point before we jumped on here deandre walker his roster spot could be in jeopardy if you sign another edge guy at this point and again we think we got something good in harold landry uh you know camera wakes a good Walker, his roster spot could be in jeopardy if you sign another edge guy at this point. And, again, we think we've got something good in Harold Landry.

Cameron Wake's a good player, even though he's going to be limited on how many snaps he can play per game. Behind that, you've got just some guys that you think maybe can develop into something that have been okay. But at first I was like, maybe they should add another guy there. But then when you really think about it, adding just another mediocre guy to the list, I'm not sure that really helps your team. And that was kind of the argument that I was making on day three. Titans ended up taking Walker anyway, but I was just kind of saying, you kind of got what you got at this point.

So unless I see a devastating injury and you lose a number there, maybe that's when you dip back in and sign a guy like Nick Perry. We had a question on Twitter about Nick Perry. Like you're saying, it's just another body that goes into this rotation. I'm not sure it makes the team better. I'm not sure it does anything outside of adding depth, which I think the Titans have a lot of.

So another thing that people seem to forget is Rashawn Evans. I think he's got a lot of juice coming off the edge. I think he's going to be used a little more perhaps in that role. He might be the best athlete they have that can get after the passer. Interested to see if they use him a little bit differently. Now he's got a training camp to get settled in, to get more immersed in this defense. So I think they're going to be okay here.

I think there's a lot of panic over what's on the roster. But, I mean, look, Cam Wake's still good. The age is just a number for him. He's still productive. He's been productive every year of his career. So I don't know. I'm weird, I guess. But I'm really not too worried about the titans pass rush unless something happens to herald landry yeah and you know if you sit and think about where they are this year versus last

year um you know now we probably were a little bit higher on a rack poe and morgan going into last year than we should have been uh those guys were just – I think they're just at the end of their careers. And so I don't think they're much worse off at this point than they were last year. And the defense was really good last year. I know we had problems with the pass rush and all that stuff. But statistically and everything else, I mean, that defense was pretty good. And you've got a guy like Sheree Finch who they obviously really like. You think he can make a jump from year one to year two.

They brought in Kamala Correa. They've got some pieces there that maybe can develop into something. I think they've done a good job throughout this off-season process for agency in the draft of filling the holes they needed to fill. Then we'll just kind of see if some of these guys that we think have potential, see if they can take that next step forward as 2019 goes along. All right, coming up, we're going to talk about some contract situations before we do that, tell you about ZipRecruiter. Hiring used to be hard, multiple job sites, stacks of resumes, a confusing review process,

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ZipRecruiter is so effective that 80% of employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site within the first day. And right now, our listeners can try ZipRecruiter for free at this exclusive web address, ziprecruiter.com slash locked on. That's ziprecruiter.com slash L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N. ZipRecruiter.com slash locked on. ZipRecruiter,com slash L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N. ZipRecruiter.com slash LockedOn. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. Okay, so the Titans didn't really have that many tough decisions as far as guys on their roster with expiring contracts after the 2018 season.

That's not going to be the case after the 2018 season. That's not going to be the case after the 2019 season. They've got a lot of guys that range from obviously Marcus Mariota, and we're not really going to get into him today. We've had that discussion ad nauseum. We kind of know where we stand on that at this point. But even beyond him, you've got quite a few guys that are interesting that are going to hit the market. got quite a few guys that are interesting that are going to hit the market. Let's start with,

I guess, the best of the group, Kevin Byard. Kevin Byard is set to become a free agent after this season. He's only slated to make $884,000 this year. It was a third round draft pick. He's in the last year of that deal. He's a guy that I think they get a contract extension with him done before this season starts. I wouldn't be surprised if it's something similar to what we saw with LaJuan last year. Right at the beginning of camp, you get a deal announced with him. We saw what the safety market was last year. Those numbers exploded. They're probably even going to go up if you wait all the way until free agency next year.

He's a guy that has just really been a cornerstone of what this defense has wanted to do. And so I think that it would be smart for them to go ahead and get him wrapped up long term. I think you can probably – I mean, you're not going to get a bargain. It's not like he's going to take a bargain deal at this point. But I think if you get it done now, you can pay him what the top safeties got this offseason instead of waiting until next year and probably having to pay a little bit more at that point. Yeah, no questions asked. I mean, he's probably the best player on this defense.

You know, maybe him and Jarrell Casey can have a little bit of a debate there. But the best young piece on this defense, without a doubt. The sooner, the better. I mean, he's going to get paid. I don't think we can count on any sort of discount. He's going to get paid. I'm not sure what it's going to be. But he's been just great since he's been here, been a difference maker,

been a turnover machine. So the sooner they can get that one done the better it's a no brainer okay so the next one is a little bit more complicated i think derrick henry derrick henry's a guy that his contract is going to be up um you know if we get what we saw the last quarter of the season from derrick henry i think there's no there's no problem with paying him um you know not you're not going to give him just ridiculous money. But we see what running backs are getting now. I think you could get him on a reasonable deal.

The problem is you've really only seen, what, six games of that type of production. And so if I'm John Robinson, I don't think this is a deal that I want to do before the season starts this year. Now, if we get into the year and you feel like you're getting the same type of reduction from him, you feel like whatever this offense is going to be, if it's going to be new or kind of the same or whatever, if you feel like he's a good fit for what you're wanting to do and all that stuff, then I think maybe you entertain that at that point.

But, you know, you don't have a lot i guess behind him uh if you don't sign him i mean you've got deon lewis but i mean he showed last year he's not he's not going to be good in the feature back role um they got our boy david flew ellen uh who's you know good on teams but you definitely don't want him as your feature back either so they got some questions there you can find, running backs. So I don't know, this one's a little bit more complicated. I mean, I think fans are going to want to sign him because, you know, everybody's watched that 99-yard touchdown run a million times. But I think probably the smart way here is to kind of just let this season play out.

Now, again, I think if, you know, mid-year you're getting good production out of him, then you can kind of start to have those talks. But it's definitely not something that I would feel comfortable with going ahead and giving him a bunch of money right now. Yeah, I mean, outside of the elite backs in the league, how many backs stick with the team that drafted them into the second contract? I don't know the answer to that, but it seems like it's not going to be a lot. So you're talking about Derrick Henry being 27 next year,

and we've only seen one month of consistent running in his entire career. So I've got a lot that I need to see personally. He's got to string 16 games together. He's got to be the workhorse. He's got to prove to be a legitimate, consistent difference maker. Obviously, if he strings together three months like he had the last month of last season then he's going to get paid in a big way but i've just got questions uh you know we've only seen this in one little stretch of this career so uh i'm weary about paying running

backs especially as they creep close to closer 30. It's going to be 27. You know, if he's going to get an extension from me, it probably wouldn't go past two or three seasons. But, you know, like you said, you can find running backs anywhere. Teams draft starters now in the third and fourth rounds get legitimate difference makers. So Titans haven't seemed to – it hasn't been as easy for the Titans. I will say that.

So Derrick Henry does seem to be the identity of this team right now. If he backs up what he did in the last month of the season, absolutely. Go pay him. But I've got to see it first. All right, I think we've got two more guys that are kind of, you know, in-depth conversations, and then we'll go a little bit quick hitter after that because there are a few more guys on the list that I think are guys that are big pieces of this team, but I'm not sure that they're really the cornerstones of the franchise.

The next guy is Logan Ryan, a guy that they put a premium on, obviously, when they signed him back in 2017 to that three-year 30 million dollar contract he's been really good when he's been on the field i got hurt at the end of the year last year obviously you got to see where he comes back from that but again you're talking about a guy that's a little bit older a corner getting into that third contract you know he's gonna make nine and a half million this year uh you know he to me he's a guy that that you kind of go to now and say, hey, what are we thinking about going forward? Can they do something with him like they did with Delaney Walker last year, where you go ahead and maybe tack two more years onto the deal, kind of rework it, and so it's a

three-year deal, but it's basically just a two-year contract extension? I mean, something like that would seem to make sense for the team. Now, I'm not sure what he's thinking there, but he's a guy that has come in and been really good for them in a secondary that was pretty good last year, and they've got kind of everybody coming back in that group this year. So, I mean, he's a guy I think that's probably pretty important, but it's also you're getting into that age range where you don't really want to invest in him too long term,

but I think he's still got enough in the tank that you'd want him around for a couple more years. Yeah, and I think it comes down to where you play Imani Hooker because we've heard nickel, we've heard safety. If he's your nickelback and he's good this season, then what do you do with him? So that's where it gets a little questionable for me. But I think he's been really steady, not outstanding, definitely not terrible, just really steady.

He's done a lot for this defense to kind of stop the bleeding out of the days of just that horrible secondary in 2016 that we saw. So a big, big difference maker since he's gotten here. I wouldn't mind seeing him extended another two years like you're talking about. I don't think you can have enough good corners these days. So if you hit on Hooker, it gets a little dicey there if he does play the nickelback spot But again, I'm never gonna gonna complain about having a good three four five cornerbacks on this roster Yeah, Alaska, like I said that I think warrants some some pretty steady discussion Dennis Kelly

He's in the last year of his deal, you know Titans traded for him back in What 2017 2018? brought him in for door Al Green Beckham and You know, Titans traded for him back in, what, 2017, 2018, brought him in for Dorian Beckham. And a guy that's been really, really valuable for them, has played both tackle spots at times. You know, and a guy that you just, you know, I think coaches, head coach, obviously coordinator, general manager, sleep better at night knowing you have a guy like him on the roster because you know that if you're left tackle,

you're right tackle, and maybe both your guards even get hurt, that guy can step in and play those spots. We saw with all the injuries that the Titans had in the offensive line last year how valuable that can be. I just don't know. What's his value? What's his value on the open market? What does he think his value is?

Where does he fall in line with? I mean, obviously, he's not going to get a 10 of the 1 type deal, but I think he can probably get a deal that's worth more than two years, three million was what his last contract was for. I think he can definitely get more than that. The other question you have is how does he hold up if he's the guy, if he has to play week in and week out. We haven't really seen him do that here.

I don't know if there's any reason to think that he couldn't, but that's just all the types of questions you have to ask if you're John Robinson and you're talking about how to approach this guy for a contract. Yeah, and I think his value is directly tied to what Jack Conklin does this year. If Conklin comes in and he's great again, you know, there's a good chance Dennis Kelly might not see the field. So you have to think about that. But he's such a valuable piece.

You know, it's funny just looking back at the Doral Green Beckham trade and how we thought they were giving up on Doral Green Beckham too early. They get back Dennis Kelly. Who's this guy? And he's been one of the most valuable pieces on the team. He's like that sixth man off the basketball bench, just can do a little bit of everything. You know, he's filled in quite nicely for Jack Conklin,

played better than Conklin, I think we would both agree, last year. So 30 years old, going to be 31 next year when it's time to sign him. I wouldn't mind seeing a two or three year deal to keep him around. We're talking about giving Dennis Kelly more money and Dorian Beckham's in jail. There you go.

We will come back and finish up this episode with just a few more of these guys that are scheduled to be free agents in 2020 so yeah you mentioned jack congle there and i kind of completely forgot him i mean now he's scheduled to be a free agent in 2020 the titans declined his option again like you said i mean this is all about how well he plays and that kind of you know colors that whole discussion and with both of those guys how much they play this year how well do they play all that kind of, you know, colors that whole discussion. And with both of those guys, how much do they play this year,

how well do they play, all that kind of stuff. I think they're kind of tied together when you're talking about just the Titans' plans for what they're going to do going forward. Yeah, it's 100% on Conklin now. I mean, it's an impossible question to answer right this second, as things stand. Clearly took a step back last year. So he's got to prove, number one, that he can be healthy

and he can come back from that knee. Number two, that he can at least perform at a decently high level for him to even be warranted to get paid. But it's going to be really interesting. I think the Titans are okay in 2019 wherever it goes, but this offensive line really might be due for a makeover next offseason. Yeah, all right. And then beyond that, you've got Darren Bates, who, I mean,

I think Darren Bates is a guy that could get cut this year. You know, we talked about the pending, you know, arrest that he has. So he's got some stuff going on there. You got, you know, again, special teams captain is obviously a guy they like, but I think if there's somebody that comes in and can outplay him and be a little bit cheaper, he's a guy that I wouldn't be surprised if they moved on from in camp. Again, just kind of a couple of those things considered.

Yeah, David Long, a pretty good athlete, really productive guy at West Virginia, could slide into that role. I don't know if he's ready for a special teams captain type role, but just as far as depth on the roster, I think you can slot in David Long, at least equal with Bates. We'll see what they do on teams. That's something that we really can't break down. The coaching staff knows all about that.

But, yeah, interesting on Bates, I think a guy like Long definitely gets his roster spot in 2020. Bo Brinkley, I mean, whatever, right? He's been here for a long time. This team has been committed to long snappers. But, I don't, I mean, whatever. You can find a long snapper or you can keep him around. Or you can take one on the fifth round like Bill Belichick. There you go.

Maybe there's something to that. All right, Kamalei Correa, that's an interesting guy. Again, a guy that's going to be – he's going to play this year. I mean, you know, he's probably what their third, fourth guy out there. You definitely would put him behind Harold Landry, put him behind Cameron Wake. They traded for him. I mean, you got Sheree Finch.

You know, how much you can play Rashad Evans. I mean, all those things factored in, but a guy that could earn himself some money with this team based on how he plays this year. And he's going to get reps. You know, he's got an opportunity to be what, the third rusher, maybe the might start. I don't know how they feel about Wake and where they're going to line him up and how many snaps they're going to give him.

But Correa's going to play a lot. A guy that played some inside linebacker in Baltimore, primarily an outside guy here, a versatile piece. They seem to like him a lot. He came in. He was pretty productive for the Titans. So I don't see why not. Again, you can't have too many of those pass rusher types,

and this is a guy that might be able to slide inside if someone goes down. So a versatile piece that you probably won't have to break the bank for. Austin Johnson, whatever. No, I'm out on Austin Johnson. Yeah, just that whole second round with Dodd and then Johnson and then Henry. I know Henry had a really good month to close the year, but that whole second down was such a letdown. It had a shot to really remake this roster.

Austin Johnson, it was a disappointment on draft night, and unfortunately it hadn't gotten much better. Yeah, and again, the whole conversation we had at the beginning of the show about free agents, we're talking about defensive linemen, and if Austin Johnson was what he was supposed to be, we wouldn't probably be having to have that conversation. Ben Jones, a guy that I think struggled a lot last year, he's going to have two new guys next to him this year.

We'll kind of see how he holds up. But, I mean, for him to be back on this team, for them to give him a new contract, I'm going to need to see a lot more from him this year than I've seen the last two years. Yeah, and that's another one. We talked about the right tackle spot potentially getting overhauled. The center could get overhauled uh next year uh just seemed to take a step backwards last year making

what 4.3 uh this season so it's gonna have to show show us something but i i'd be surprised if he's back in 2020 tajay sharp um i mean i you know again if he's number five that's fine whatever but i would imagine you know with bringing in aj brown the guys working ahead of him i mean i think tajay sharp this year needs to prove that he's more valuable than taylon taylor if he's going to get a new contract i understand they're completely different guys but if you're going to give tajay sharp a new contract, he's got to be definitively your fourth wide receiver. Whatever.

I don't know if he's that. If you can get him back on kind of a minimum deal, whatever. It's fine. Yeah, I'm with you. It's just kind of a take it or leave it situation. Hadn't done much since his rookie season. He's got to go beat a guy like Tajay Sharp, not Tajay Sharp, Taewon Taylor maybe for some reps.

Be interested to see how A.J. Brown comes along, if those two guys are even in the mix with A.J. Brown. So I don't know if he's going to have the opportunities last year. It seems like his window is starting to close. Maybe he's got one more shot here in camp. We'll see. Yeah, and then LaShawn Sims, a guy that's been good when they've asked him to play. So, I mean, I think he's got some value just as far as being a depth piece.

But, again, we were talking about Logan Ryan and all that kind of stuff. I mean, it's at least something they've got to entertain, but that wouldn't be something they would do until this time, or not this time next year, but until the offseason next year. Yeah, LaShawn seems like a guy that would test the market. You know, as kind of the fifth guy here, he might want an opportunity to play. Maybe he thinks more of himself than the Titans do. He's had some upside to play. Maybe he thinks more of himself than the Titans do. He's had some upside to him. He's probably better than

the fifth corner in this league, so he might be able to find some opportunity on the open market. I knew if I didn't write these names down I was going to get somebody out of order. Wesley Woodyard, a guy that is an interesting thing because he's gotten better the last two years now he's getting to the age where you have to wonder how much longer that can last but again i wouldn't be opposed to them doing something like a delaney walker type deal with him where you give him you know maybe uh you tack two years on to this deal make it to where maybe

you can get out of it after 2020 or something like that. I think he's got some value. But then again, you could feel like, hey, we've got Rashawn Evans, we've got Jayon Brown, you know, we can find another guy in the draft. So we're going to be okay there. But, I mean, he's been a guy that really has, like I said, he's gotten better every year. And a guy that's been a really valuable piece of this defense.

And as good as they were last year, they really struggled when he wasn't in there. Yeah, we've seen linebackers be able to play. You know, he's going to be 35, and that really hasn't seemed to slow him down yet. So still a really, really effective player. I think the Titans like those three inside linebackers they've got. It's a really nice group. They can do some different things there. I mentioned Rashawn Evans potentially playing some edge this year.

Maybe they're not ready to get rid of a guy like this, a veteran on the team. But, again, I look at a guy like David Long as a guy with an opportunity to go take his spot maybe if he plays good this season. Maybe the Titans feel okay letting Woodyard test the market. Again, it's going to be a wait-and-see type deal for me, also to see if he loses a step because he will be 35 next year. Yeah, absolutely. All right, so that will do it for our show today.

Again, if you want to be a part of the voicemail show tomorrow, 615-787-8762. That's the number that you call, and leave us a voicemail. Try to keep it to about a minute, and we'll be able to work you in on the show tomorrow. You can also follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's

at tlamberttn. If you have questions, you can hit us there, too, and we'll be glad to address them. So, thanks so much for listening to this edition of Locked On Titans, and we'll talk to you again tomorrow.