Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - How Tennessee Titans Signed DeAndre Hopkins, Baltimore Ravens Assist & Derrick Henry Defends RBs

Episode Date: July 18, 2023

The Tennessee Titans were able to land DeAndre Hopkins, but according to some recent reporting by Albert Breer, they would not have if not for Odell Beckham Jr. and the Baltimore Ravens. Next, the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots missed out on Hopkins and indirectly the Titans could cause both teams to unravel by the end of the year. Finally, the debate about running back pay has ramped up again and Derrick Henry has thrown in his two cents. Could the running back position cease to exist one day?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!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO 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

The Tennessee Titans won the DeAndre Hopkins sweepstakes, but it looks like they got a major assist from Odell Beckham Jr. and the Baltimore Ravens. I'll take you behind the scenes on how the Titans landed DeAndre Hopkins on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. 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 Locked on Titans podcast.

I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, we're going behind the scenes on the DeAndre Hopkins signing on today's show. We got some excellent reporting from Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated. Some excellent reporting from Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated. We're going to go over everything that he had to say, shining some light on what took place, again, behind the scenes with Hopkins. Before we get into all of that, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all apps,

all year long, and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, where it's your team every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there who are tuning into the show every single day throughout the week. Couldn't do it without you guys. Let me know down below in the comments

if you're an everydayer, but I say that to let you guys know that tomorrow we are going to continue our positional preview series as we lead towards training camp. We're going to talk about the cornerbacks tomorrow, finish out the week with the safeties, of course, barring any breaking news that happens.

I'll always pivot to that so that you guys have the most up-to-date information possible. But a lot of good content coming your way. And then, of course, Rookies Report over the weekend. Training camp starts next week. A lot of stuff coming your guys' way. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed.

Hit that notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now as well. Show is always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, do you want to dive into this behind-the-scenes reporting that we got from Albert Breer free, all I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, do you want to dive into this behind-the-scenes reporting that we got from Albert Breer, I guess my colleague, Albert Breer,

over at Sports Illustrated. Check out my writing at alltitans.com for Sports Illustrated there covering the team. But Breer went into detail as to what the primary reason was that DeAndre Hopkins signed with the Titans. And it should be no shock that he said, quote, easy, money, end quote.

It's the money, and it makes sense. Hopkins looking to get maybe that last decent chunk payday of his career. Either way, this is what Breer had to say about Hopkins landing with the Titans. Quote, for the 31-year-old five-time All-Pro, getting $12 million in base pay and upside to $15 million in the week leading up to the opening of camp is unequivocally a win. At a point when a team's cap and cash budgets are mostly spent, and sure, if Hopkins plays like he has at many points of his career, paying him less than what a lot of good No. 2 receivers make will be a bargain.

End quote there. The Titans were willing to pony up the cash and give Hopkins a payday that players don't normally get at this time of year. But the reason that the Titans were willing to do it is because they had an incredible need at wide receiver and you normally don't fill that need at this point of the year with a player of Hopkins caliber.

So it was a perfect storm here. But the Titans almost didn't get a chance to do this, period. This should have never happened and it wouldn't have happened if not for Odell Beckham Jr. and the Baltimore Ravens. Let's dive in here to what Albert Breer had to say about the Kansas City Chiefs' pursuit of DeAndre Hopkins and how the Ravens ended up giving the Titans a major assist. This is what Breer said, quote,

That brings us to the Chiefs, who I believe would have considered circling back on Hopkins. Teams involved felt Hopkins would consider taking less to go to KC or another top contender if the money didn't get closer to what Odell Beckham Jr. got prior to camp's opening. Remember, the Chiefs worked diligently on a deal in April and had most of it worked out then, they talked about a deal with a $4 million base and upside to $10 million and had worked through the trade terms with Arizona

only to have Beckham's deal one year, $15 million, poison the well. Folks, if not for Odell Beckham Jr. getting that contract from the Ravens that we have been referencing throughout this process, the Titans would have been cooked. DeAndre Hopkins would be on the Kansas City Chiefs right now. I mean, Breer reports it right there.

The Chiefs and the Cardinals mean, Breer reports it right there. The Chiefs and the Cardinals had a trade agreed to. They had a contract structure with Hopkins mostly agreed to. But Odell Beckham getting that one-year $15 million deal from the Ravens after not playing in 2022, after tearing his ACL in 2021, after all the uncertainty with Odell Beckham the year before that, with all of that, Beckham still got one year $15 million. And after Hopkins saw that, he said, no way am I going to play for $10 million this year. $4 million in base salary, up to $10 in incentives. Far less lucrative than what the Titans ended up giving him.

So Hopkins bet on himself here, and he won. Like Breer pointed out, getting this kind of contract for this much money at this time in the offseason is nearly unprecedented. So that's a crazy revelation. That's insane to know. I thought that was incredibly interesting that literally the Odell Beckham Jr. contract is the only thing that allowed Hopkins

to be available for the Titans. Otherwise, he would be on the Chiefs right now. So shout out to the Ravens. Shout out to Odell Beckham Jr. for getting that contract. If not for that, the Titans would not have Hopkins right now, and God knows what would have happened with this season with the wide receiver group that they were ready to go into training camp with. Who knows who gets cut?

Who knows who ends up available? If the Titans get anybody, we'll never know. Thank the Lord, we'll never have to. But with that being said, we are going to move forward because there's more reporting here. We got some interesting notes on the other main competitors in the DeAndre Hopkins sweepstakes, the New England Patriots, and the Buffalo Bills. So we're going to dive into what happened with those two teams according to Albert Breer's reporting here in just a second. Before we get into it, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.

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FanDuel, official partner of Major League Baseball. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, talking about some of the behind-the-scenes reporting that we've gotten from the DeAndre Hopkins sweepstakes. We talked about just why Hopkins picked the Titans first and foremost, obviously a financial decision, but also the major assist that the Titans got from Odell Beckham Jr. and the Baltimore Ravens for it even to be possible for the Titans to have a chance at signing DeAndre Hopkins.

But now, I want to talk about some of the other teams that were hurt by the Titans, grabbing Hopkins, teams that were also interested in his services, namely the New England Patriots, and then, of course, the Buffalo Bills. And we are going to start with the Buffalo Bills. Before we get into it, though, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday,

Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps 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. But going to throw up some more reporting from Albert Breer here talking about the Buffalo Bills this time.

And he said, then there's the Bills. They too had worked through particulars both with Hopkins and the Cardinals pre-draft. But even then, my sense is there was trepidation because of how such a signing could upset the balance of the offense. With Stephon Diggs needing his touches and Hopkins being a volume receiver. Then they drafted Dalton Kincaid to play the sort of inside receiver spot Hopkins would have, the Diggs drama escalated. And I'm not sure as much as they liked Hopkins

when they talked to him, they had another run in them. To me, what I read there is drama, drama, drama. Okay, this goes into, I said something on my instant reaction podcast to the Hopkins News, my everydayers will remember, but I said, would you believe it if you woke up in January and the Titans had just beat the Bills in the playoffs? And half of the chat said I was crazy, and then half of the chat said no, they could believe it. You guys let me know how you feel.

I know a lot of you guys are in here from when you were on Sunday night too, so let me know. But the drama in Buffalo is coming to a head at some point. They've had the same coach for a while. They've had the same GM for a while. They've obviously had Josh Allen for a while. They've had the same GM for a while. They've obviously had Josh Allen for a while, and he's been playing his absolute best football the last few years. You've had Stephon Diggs, a number one weapon.

They've had some talented offenses. They've brought in, you know, Von Miller, win now moves. They've done different things, and nothing has even got them to the conference championship. things and nothing has even got them to the conference championship. If the Bills don't get to the conference championship this year, heads are going to roll. They might have to blow it up. And I think it would be absolutely hilarious if Stefan Diggs, being a diva basically, and not wanting to share the rock with Hopkins,

prevented Buffalo from adding Hopkins, and then Buffalo doesn't have enough to get over that hill again, and then it leads to the end of the Buffalo Bills' current core as we know it. It would be such poetic justice for the Titans to be the team that got Hopkins because Buffalo decided not to be interested and not upset their offense and their star-wide receiver. But then for the Titans to also be the team

to physically beat them and knock them out. Like, it would be the beginning of the end and the end of the end, and the Titans would be there all along. And I just think that that would be absolutely hilarious. And I can't help but just be humored at the comedy involved in that situation. So, not only we've talked about the Chiefs and the Bills so far. If the Titans are going to upset these teams and make some sort of crazy run that we can't foresee,

we're going to look back at this and be like, not only did the Titans save themselves by getting DeAndre Hopkins, but the Titans hurt the Chiefs and hurt the Bills, who are their primary rivals for getting out of the AFC. It's just too poetic to ignore. So I'm really happy to get some of this behind the scenes reporting. I would love for the Titans, just like with the Patriots,

to be that last push to send them off into oblivion. You know what I mean? It would just be absolutely beautiful, especially after that beatdown that the Titans got from the Bills last year. We'd love to see a little bit of revenge in multiple ways right there. But, of course, other than the Chiefs and the Bills, the Titans' primary competition throughout, maybe could have just been a bargaining situation where Hopkins was leveraging the Patriots against the Titans,

which is what I said I thought was happening quite that time. This is what Breer had to say about the Patriots side of things. Quote, the first is the Patriots. And yes, I did these a little out of order because it's more fun to talk about that way. But anyways, the first is the Patriots. The presumed runner-up. New England was willing to match the max total, $15 million, for 2023,

only with a far higher percentage of that total tied to incentives as part of an offer that structurally, at least, looked a little like Kansas City's offer before the draft. Which leaves Bill Belichick and Bill O'Brien with Juju Smith-Schuster, Devontae Parker, Kendrick Bourne, and second-year man Tyquan Thornton at the position. So, I mean, let's cut through the crap there.

The Patriots weren't willing to pony up the dough. That's all that it comes down to there. The Titans said we'll give you $12 million guaranteed. The Patriots, far less of a percentage. What the Patriots are, we'll give you $8 million guaranteed with $7 million in incentives. We'll give you $9 million with $6.

You know what I mean? The Titans did $12 and $3. So the Titans were just willing to put their money where their mouth is and say, Hopkins, we need you so bad. We'll give you the $12 million guaranteed no matter what. You do the rest. Get the $15 million.. We'll give you the $12 million guaranteed no matter what. You do the rest. Get the $15 million.

But we'll give you the $12 now. The Patriots weren't willing to match that. It's crazy too because you're starting to hear reporting now that Bill Belichick is on the hot seat finally in this season. They need to win for him to keep his job. I don't know if those reports are true, but you look at what Belichick has done for his young quarterback, Mac Jones.

Given him Matt Patricia as an offensive coordinator last year, that is all-time despicable stuff. Then to not pony up the dough and go get Hopkins, and imagine if Hopkins lives up to it in Tennessee. I mean, Mac Jones just has to be so frustrated with what his coach is doing to him and his progression as a player. And what's going to happen is, if Bill Belichick is on the hot seat in the Patriots struggle

and Mac Jones struggles, it's not going to be Mac Jones that gets the blame, although I'm not very high on Mac Jones personally. It's not going to be Mac Jones that gets the blame. It's going to be Belichick. So just stuff like this is the type of thing that people remember when decisions get made.

You could have ponied up a little bit of extra dough and maybe given your chance a shot to sign Hopkins and help your young quarterback, but you didn't. And that'll result. And however, that results. But with that being said, that is all the reporting on the background

of the Hopkins signing. Wanted to go over that from all angles with you guys. Of course, shout out to Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated doing an excellent job with all that information. But now I want to pivot a little bit, just do a little impromptu Roland's rant. A lot of conversation about the running back position, values, and I just want to ask the question,

are we going to wake up one day and running backs are like fullbacks? I'll explain what I mean and why I think it is kind of possible. So we'll get into that in just a moment. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about all of the different reporting around the lead-up to the DeAndre Hopkins signing, the difference that it made

for the Odell Beckham Jr. contract with the Ravens, all that. So, excellent reporting there. Awesome to go behind the scenes on what happened with each of those different teams and how it led to the Titans signing Hopkins. They are certainly lucky. And oh, Odell Beckham Jr. and the Ravens. Quite the thank you note. I don't think they're going to give it out, though, based

on the history of the teams, but we know that the Titans owe the Ravens for that one. But with that being said, I want to get into this conversation about the running back position that's become prevalent in the last few days with the franchise tag deadline. So if you guys didn't see it, Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs for the Giants and the Raiders respectively did not come to a long-term agreement. Neither of them are looking to play on the one-year franchise tag.

And it looks like those guys might hold out. Might be a Le'Veon Bell situation here where they try to threaten to sit out the whole season. I don't know what the endgame is here because now they're past the deadline to get a long-term deal done. So even if the Giants or the Raiders change their mind, there's nothing they could do about it. So I don't know what the endgame is here. Maybe a trade is something that they'd be pushing for, but I'm not quite certain what they're trying to get out of the situation by holding out. But either way, it's just created a lot of conversation in the football community, and a lot of this is due to the fact that we're in the dead period still with training camp

starting next week. But I just have been thinking, like, we saw fullbacks all the time when I was growing up. Thank Lorenzo Neal. There's been a lot of great full backs throughout history. A guy like Mike Allstott even was big growing up. But a lot of you guys have probably seen full backs throughout your life. And now more than ever, there are no full backs really in the NFL. You have Kyle Juszczyk in San Francisco, but there aren't a lot of pure fullbacks in the NFL anymore. A lot of the time, what you see now is you use a tight end. Get a tight end that's maybe a little stockier, a little sturdier, a better blocker. Have him act as a fullback. He can play

a little bit of tight end. He can play a little fullback. As you recall, if you recall, Torrey Carter last year did some work with the Titans tight end groups, trying to be more versatile. And ultimately the Titans let him go and then didn't replace him and started using Kevin Rader as a fullback because he had tight end versatility. So like we've seen with the fullback position, where basically rather than paying a full back, you just use a versatile tight end. Could we ever see that happen with running back? And I think a guy like Debo Samuel, I think a guy like Christian McCaffrey, I think a guy like Cordero Patterson, even a guy like Tajay Spears.

a guy like Tajay Spears, I think guys like this are going to maybe, I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'm just asking the question, where we've seen fullbacks basically turn into tight ends, are we going to see running backs turn into offensive weapons? Guys like Deebo Samuel, that you have to be able to play wide receiver.

You have to be able to run the routes and basically be a real wide receiver. And then you find a guy who has versatile traits and then you use him as your running back. The Titans used to throw pitches to Johnnie Smith. They could do that with Chigga Conquo now if they wanted to. The Titans gave a handoff on a jet sweep to their backup quarterback. Think about a guy like Taysom Hill.

Could we see 20 years from now where there is no running back position? There's an offensive weapon and you have guys who can line up out wide, who can line up at tight end, but you could also put them in the backfield. So rather than paying running backs, you just use guys who are more versatile at other positions

and let them do that role for you, that responsibility for you. Just like how tight ends now do the responsibilities of a fullback because that position is just not that important anymore. It's kind of a big brain idea, I understand. Jokingly, of course, but just wondering if that could happen. And I want to bring this up. Derrick Henry actually weighed in on Twitter,

and he said, at this point, just take the running back position out of the game. The ones that want to be great and work as hard as they can to give their all to an organization just seem like it don't even matter. I'm with every running back that's fighting to get what they deserve. And that's a fair sentiment from a running back. But, I mean, be careful what you wish for.

You know what I mean? This is like other situations that maybe aren't fair where ownership or the organization or the corporation will say, people say, hey, we deserve more money. We deserve more money. Might as well just get rid of us if you're not going to pay us well. Then you get replaced by self-checkout. You get replaced by automated ordering systems and touchscreen menus at restaurants and stuff like that. Whether it's fair or not, you have to be careful what you wish for here because we've seen

that these corporations, owners, ownership groups, blah, blah, blah, they'll just do it. And that's what we're seeing in the NFL. And that's why I've seen people say, well, they need to increase the salary cap. They need to change the rules around the running back position so that they can get

paid earlier. You could make it legal to give a regular four-year big-time contract extension to a rookie running back rather than a rookie-scale contract, and teams still aren't going to do it because the reality is you would rather have three running backs at a million and a half, two million. If you have three decent running backs that combine to make five to six million dollars,

teams would take that all day over one running back commanding more than ten million dollars. Now, you're not relying on one person to stay healthy. You have three guys that you can use in a rotation. You're paying half the money. Most of the running backs in the NFL now are making somewhere between two to three, two to four million dollars a year. And I've talked about this. Go look at the last 14 Super Bowl winners. Their leading rusher in the game made less than five million dollars. You do not need a highly paid running back

to win in the NFL. It is not the 90s. Passing the ball is way more efficient. Passing the ball is way more important. And positions like offensive line, wide receiver, and quarterback are far more important than running back ever will be because it is easier to find a productive running back than it is nearly any other position in football. People are saying the average running back makes less than the average kicker now.

Well, guess what? It is harder to find a good kicker than it is to find a good running back. Running back production has proven to be more about the outside factors. Now you can find outliers and you can find anomalies. And guess what? You're going to find one in Tennessee. But there aren't a lot of Derrick Henrys. And I'm sorry, but Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley are not Derrick Henry. They're not. It's that simple.

So, to me, at the end of the day, as long as you can get the same production from three running backs totaling you $5-6 million that you would from one running back making more than $10 million, it only makes sense to let three people do it for half the price than to pay one person to do it and then rely on that person to stay healthy. Running backs are breaking down. Look, the Zeke contract, the Gurley contract. Dalvin Cook just got released.

Joe Mixon just took a pay cut. Le'Veon Bell fell out of the league almost immediately. These big-time running back contracts just don't work. And you know what? It's been a long, long time since we've seen a team win the Super Bowl paying a running back big time money. So it's not some personal attack on running backs. People act like it's a targeted attack to

ruin the value of running backs. No, it's just a smart way to build a team. It's just a smart way to build a team. You can find running back production for cheap nearly anywhere. It's just the reality. There is no way. There is no rule that you can put in place. The NFL Players Association isn't going to hurt their other positions to satisfy the running backs.

So it's not like the players are going to do some kind of revenue share with the running backs. There is no way to stop what's happened. There is no way to stop it. Running backs are too easy to find. It's too easy to find cheap production that is close enough to expensive production. Teams are too smart

to do it. And it may suck from the fan perspective that your favorite running back goes to a different team or he doesn't get paid what you think he's supposed to get paid and all that and all these running backs can complain all they want, but it's too late. Teams know I can get running back production for cheaper elsewhere.

Not paying 10 plus million dollars for a running back. Good teams that win consistently and win the Super Bowl don't do that. The Eagles had a running back by committee. The Chiefs have a running back by committee with late round running backs. We just have to realize the reality. And that's why I asked the question, are running backs the new fullbacks? And will we wake up one day where there is no running back position? You just use athletic tight ends and versatile wide receivers to do it. Or a running quarterback that you keep. So they're your backup quarterback and they serve as one of

your running backs. Just interesting to think of how the game could evolve because we're definitely at a breaking point where the top running backs are fed up, but these teams aren't going to stop doing the philosophy and the roster building techniques that have shown that they work. Going to be interesting to see it played out. So just wanted to throw in my two cents on that, but that's going to do it for me today, folks. Again, I'm going to be back with you guys tomorrow,

and we are going to dive into the secondary with our positional preview series, but that's going to do it for me today, folks. Again, I'm going to be back with you guys tomorrow, and we are going to dive into the secondary with our positional preview series. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this, wait for it, was Locked on Titans.