Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - It's TANNE-TIME: Tannehill Long Term Deal, What Comes Next & Mock Draft Monday

Episode Date: March 16, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it's Tana time. John Robinson goes out and secures a long-term extension with his quarterback of the future, Ryan Tannehill. So we are going to talk about all of the moves that led up to that signing on Sunday. Coincidentally, exactly a year from the date and almost to the time when the Titans traded for Ryan Tannehill last year.

So it is sweet, poetic justice for Ryan Tannehill at this moment in time to come back to Nashville and build on what the Titans created last season. So there are a lot more moves that come after this as well. So after we talk about Tannehill's contract we are going to get into a conversation about where the Titans are at right now how much cap space do they have left and what moves could we see coming forward in the near future after that it is mock draft Monday of course so I could not leave you guys without any mock draft information at all

So we are going to talk about the most recent mock draft Monday release from the draft Network What their selection is for the Titans and what we could expect now that we know Tannehill is secured Titans fans There is so much to go over from the weekend and so much to be excited about, so let's get it. Before the Titans and general manager John Robinson were able to get the biggest deal of the weekend done, they first had to clear out as much cap space as possible, and the Titans did that by releasing four veteran players, running back Deion Lewis, defensive end Cameron Wake, kicker Ryan Suckup, and one of the best tight ends in Titans history, Delaney Walker. This gave the Titans an additional $17 to $18 million in cap space, but also gave them

maximum flexibility heading into free agency. And with that maximum flexibility, they signed Ryan Tannehill to a four-year $118 million deal with $62 million guaranteed at signing. Also, the Titans will guarantee Ryan Tannehill an additional $30 million if he is on the roster on the fifth day of the league year in 2021. Essentially, this means the Titans have to decide if they are going to guarantee Ryan Tannehill's third year before the beginning of his second year. This is something we see with Ezekiel Elliott's contract with the Dallas Cowboys throughout the entirety of the contract there. So something relatively new

to the NFL landscape that Ryan Tannehill was able to take advantage of and get into his contract. That was likely a trade-off with the Titans for Ryan Tannehill having a very low cap number for this first season. Obviously, the Titans have a lot of questions to answer in free agency. So Tannehill's cap number is only $22.5 million this upcoming season, despite the yearly average of his contract being $28.5 million. Like I said, this is likely a trade-off that Ryan Tannehill's agent made a third guaranteed year for helping the Titans structure his contract in a way to give them maximum ability and let them stay aggressive in free agency this year to keep a good team around Ryan Tannehill. So taking all of that into account, this is essentially a three

year 91 to 93 million dollar deal for Ryan Tannehill. Taking a look at the contract from a league perspective, Ryan Tannehill will slot in as the seventh highest paid quarterback in the NFL with this deal. Now, that is relatively surprising considering when starting quarterbacks in the NFL get a new contract, typically they will be the highest paid player at the position for at least a short amount of time and reset the market as they would say. This time, Ryan Tannehill comes in at not even the top five at his position. So the Titans got an incredible bargain there. Not only did they get an incredible bargain in terms of where Ryan Tannehill is slotted right now, but that bargain will be even more of a value, say, a year, year and a half from

now. You look at names at the quarterback position that are expected to get an extension coming soon. Think about Dak Prescott and Tom Brady in this offseason who have the potential to make more than Ryan Tannehill per year. In the very near future, we will see names like Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson get extensions as well. So it is possible that within

the next year or year and a half, Ryan Tannehill is not even in the top 10 highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL. So by any measure, that is an incredible bargain for the Titans. Also to take into account with the collective bargaining agreement being agreed upon on Saturday night by the players, that means that the NFL will quickly start working on a new TV deal with their television partners. This is expected to jump the NFL salary cap by $20-40 million within the next two years, decreasing the percentage that Ryan Tannehill's contract will take up of the Titans total salary cap. So by any measure, this is a good deal for not only Ryan Tannehill, but also for the Tennessee Titans where both sides get a little bit of what they want, but also the contract

is structured in a way to help the team continue to build around Tannehill to create a Super Bowl contender for years to come. But the Titans have a lot of work to do to continue to build that Super Bowl contender. So where do they sit right now after the Tannehill deal in terms of cap space? And also, what moves should we expect going forward? We'll talk about that next. If you've been a listener of this podcast, I'm sure you've heard all the great advertisers working with Locked On to reach sports fans.

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What's most likely to happen? There are still a ton of unanswered questions for the Titans in this all season that they will need to provide answers to in the coming days, in the coming week. The number one thing that we're going to see next is the franchise tag being placed on either Derrick Henry or Jack Conklin. Remember that the deadline to place the franchise tag is Monday at 1159 Eastern Standard Time, a minute before the opening of the legal tampering period for free agency. Remember, the Titans will only have one tag this year since the new collective bargaining agreement was ratified by the players on Saturday night.

So the Titans will have to make a decision whether or not to bring back Jack Conklin for $15 million on the franchise tag for an offensive tackle or bring back Derrick Henry on the running back franchise tag for about $12 million. Right now, the Titans have about $39 million in salary cap remaining after the Ryan Tannehill deal. So, if they do give that to Derek Henry, they're dropping themselves down to about $27-26 million in cap room. If they go with Jack Conklin, then they're coming down to about $24- million dollars in cap space and there are a lot of positions still to fill in terms of edge rusher in terms of cornerback so what we should expect

going forward is that the titans would secure derrick henry and bring him back on the franchise tag letting jack conklin walk in free agency that has been the clubhouse favorite in terms of outcomes for quite some time for the Titans in the offseason but there also is the possibility that the Titans are able to get a long-term deal done with Derrick Henry and then use the franchise tag on Jack Conklin that would open up a can of worms of whether or not they keep Conklin and try to get something done or look to trade him since the market for Jack Conklin right now is really really out of control he's expected to get about 16 to 18 million dollars

on the open market which is why it's more likely that the Titans would franchise tag Derrick Henry using about 12 million dollars on him bringing their salary cap down to about $27-26 million, letting Jack Conklin walk to a different team based on his price tag, and then using the remaining $28 million to fill the additional needs that this team has. Since that's the most likely path at this moment in time, let's go down that path and talk about the options that the Titans would have. So, if you have Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill secured, you have a decent sized hole at the offensive tackle position, you also have a decent sized hole at the cornerback position.

Well, in our free agency preview series, we talked about a bunch of characters and a bunch of players that could fit into these roles and into the Titan system pretty seamlessly. At that moment in time with $26 million in cap space. And remember, you're going to have to give yourself a little bit of wiggle room for your draft class, the rookies that come in and their contracts, and also any additional moves that they might want to make at the back of the roster as the offseason continues to play out. I'm primarily focused on, like I said, the cornerback and the edge rusher position and how the Titans can utilize about $20 to $22 million of the remaining $26 or so and really add some value to this defense.

You look at a guy like Kendall Fuller, who is probably on the high end for a cornerback looking at $10 to $12 million. The Titans could bring back Logan Ryan for that price, and while Kendall Fuller is younger, so he would be a better option at that money, it still wouldn't make sense that the Titans would shoot that high in terms of salary for a cornerback. So if you're not going to look at a top-tier fit for the Titans, then you'd look at someone like Kevin Johnson from the Buffalo Bills who had time with the Houston Texans, a slot cornerback, who would probably come in around $6-8 million.

Another person like that, Mackenzie Alexander from the Minnesota Vikings, a former slot cornerback, who would be about $6 to $8 million as well. That would bring the Titans down to about $20 million in cap room, $18 million in cap room. However, those figures exactly worked out based on the details of the contract. And then you would go over to the edge market, and then you can maybe take your hand at a Marcus Golden for $12 million, a Robert Quinn for $10 to $12 million, or you could look at one of those young projects who was a former first-round pick who could give you some good value like Vic Beasley based on his projections from SpotTrack.

We had $7 to $8 million in salary. So if you could find two mid-range bargains from six to ten million dollars then you can utilize about 16 to 18 maybe 20 million dollars of that cap space and hit two major needs now the titans are going to have three major needs going into free agency here offensive tackle edge rusher and cornerbackback. Now they're going to have to address some of those in the draft. Quite frankly your first three round picks in the draft should end up being starters. Definitely your first round pick needs to end up being a starter and with that first round pick the Titans right now based on how things are looking

are most likely going to go offensive tackle or cornerback so that would lead me to believe that they would focus on the edge rusher position no matter what in free agency and let's say they think they can get an even better bargain at cornerback or they know that they can get their offensive tackle in their slot cornerback in the draft well then we might see the Titans take that $27-26 million in cap space and really jump into the edge market. You think about Jadavion Clowney. If Yannick Ngakwe is not franchise tag, which is expected, they could go that route. Bud Dupree, Matt Judon, Dante Fowler, another young option.

So the Titans could go a bunch of different routes if they decide and feel comfortable enough with certain groups, position groups in the draft. It'll be very interesting to see what the Titans decide to do next. The best possible outcome, of course, would be signing Derrick Henry to a long-term deal, tagging Conklin, using him in a trade, or just bringing him back, getting as many guys back as possible from last year's team, even though that's a tad bit unlikely. But that's all the different routes that the Titans could go. Well, quite frankly, that's not all of them. That's all of the most logical routes that the Titans could go at this moment in time. We also most likely will need an addition at the wide

receiver position at some point in time. Corey Davis, Adam Humphreys, A.J. Brown may be a rookie. That's not an incredibly reliable group. You have somebody like Kalief Raymond who could still be in the fold. Cam Batson who could still be in the fold, but I don't know if that's exactly who you want to rely on, and there is the possibility that the Titans could trade Corey Davis as they're not expected to pick up his fifth year option and if the Titans were to do something like that in the offseason or midseason well now the wide receiver position becomes a really big issue and Tajay Sharp is still a free agent so there's a ton of different questions to answer at wide receiver, at backup running back, at backup quarterback, at cornerback, at edge. And the Titans will have to be very careful about how they utilize their draft assets and their salary cap space going forward to make sure that they maximize this roster.

Because they just gave Ryan Tannehill a ton of money that wouldn't make a lot of sense if he didn't have a contending roster around him. So a lot of compelling questions still to answer for the Titans in this offseason. Speaking of compelling questions, we are going to talk about some possible answers as well in our next segment when we do our mock draft Monday and talk about the most recent release from the draft network we may have had a ton of news to cover at the beginning of the show but it is still mock draft Monday so let's take a look at the most recent release from the draft network this one comes from Kyle Krabs and it is a three round mock draft that will help us have some answers for what the Titans might do coming up and I actually really enjoy this mock draft I think that it is a very likely scenario that could play out for the Titans.

As we talked about in the last segment, they will need an offensive tackle. They will need a cornerback. They will need an edge. The Titans will need a backup running back, a backup quarterback, and some other additional pieces. So they address quite a bit of those in Krabs' mock draft here. So with the 29th pick in the first round, Krabs has the Titans going with offensive tackle Lucas Niang from TCU.

And this is his blurb that he has. The Tennessee Titans will have a difficult time running it all the way back in 2020. Titans will have a difficult time running it all the way back in 2020. Derrick Henry, the 2019 Russian King, will command a royal ransom to return this offseason as a free agent, and right tackle Jack Conklin is facing a potential $16-18 million per year payday. Something has to give, so Tennessee tabs Lucas Niang to step into Conklin's spot as the road grader on the offensive line and I just 100% agree with his evaluation there of the Titans all season I also agree that it's most likely that Conklin will walk due to the amount he's set to get in free agency and I like Niang's potential to step in and fill that exact role we can't ask him to go and pass protection against some of the best possible

edge rushers but that's why you pay Taylor LeJuan so much money to handle a lot of that responsibility so popping in a first round rookie tackle that could contribute right away would be a pretty good start to help fill the hole that Jack Conklin will inevitably leave I also think the Titans would go towards a veteran tackle in free agency to help add competition there and not be so reliant on a rookie, but we will see that in the coming week. Moving into the second round of this three-round mock draft by Kyle Krabs, and with the 61st overall pick in the draft,

he has the Titans going with Curtis Weaver, edge rusher out of Boise State. Really like Weaver's potential. He's a technician, one of the most productive edge rushers in college football, and that's something that Krabs mentions here. So his blurb about Curtis Weaver is, quote, Cameron Wake signing in 2019 didn't pay off his hope, so the Titans look to boost the spot opposite of Harold Landry with another youngster. Curtis Weaver is one of the most productive edge prospects in 2020. I agree he doesn't have off-the-charts athleticism that will blow off the page, but he has some length, he has a quick step off the ball that will allow him to get on offensive tackles early, and he does have a lot of different moves in his arsenal

quite the technician that will allow him to have success early on so in the second round that's a pretty good value for the Titans and here we are two big needs that we talked about being filled edge and offensive tackle let's take a look at the third round selection from Kyle Krabs for the Titans with the 93rd overall pick in the draft. He has the Titans going with Tyler Beadas, the interior offensive lineman from Wisconsin. Played center in college, but will definitely have the ability to play guard. His blurb here is Beadas has seen his stock dip, but at this point he's worth the gamble to see if he can recapture his form imagine a front five featuring Taylor LeJuan, Roger Saffold, Nate Davis, Niang and a

healthy Beadez and I understand that completely but at this moment in time in the draft with Ben Jones just getting a contract extension Nate Davis having a very solid rookie season, at least the end to his rookie season, and Roger Saffold's contract. I just don't see interior offensive line being a big enough need for the Titans to strike right now with all the other needs that they have. I understand the philosophy here, though. I don't think it would be a terrible idea to add to the interior O-line for a competition for Nate Davis insurance with Saffold's age and with Jones' age as well. And we saw how the Titans really dropped off.

Once Jones came out of the lineup, Ben Jones is the pivot of the offensive line at center. So having a talented backup there, having some talent in some competition there isn't terrible. But in my opinion, there are more pressing needs that the Titans could take a look at and still be getting value with the 93rd pick and you look two picks later at the Denver Broncos you have cornerback Bryce Hall from Virginia and I love Bryce Hall and his value right here at six foot 200 pounds. He gives you the physicality that's needed to play the slot corner role in the NFL.

He is incredibly physical. He loves tackling. He loves getting in and being ultra competitive at the line of scrimmage. He also, at Virginia, was asked to play a bunch of different types of coverages, man zone, a bunch of different techniques in terms of covering the slot, inside, outside, shade, jam. You don't want to have him as an off the ball man coverage corner, but that's not what the Titans are going to ask their slot cornerback to do. The Titans love being a disguise zone heavy defense. And quite frankly, Bryce Hall was excellent in zone coverage and he has very high IQ he's very

instinctive and that kind of makes up for some of the natural athleticism that he's missing and some of the quick twitch that he's missing but in the slot with teams playing in sub package quite a bit we saw how Logan Ryan's versatility and his physicality in the run game allowed him to fit perfectly in the Titans defensive scheme so I think that's something that you can get in a younger version with Bryce Hall also he had 21 pass breakups in 2018 which led the nation so he has got incredible ball skills like I said that kind of folds into the instincts that he shows out on the field. The only issue is he did have a major ankle injury in his senior season. He only played in six games.

So you got to make sure that he is healthy and ready to go. But I would rather them go with someone like Bryce Hall there in the third round than be it as an interior offensive lineman. But that is going to do it for this week's Mock Draft Monday. Go to thedraft draft network.com their most recent release of mock draft monday should be out by the time that you guys hear this so check that out and we will break that down next week as we get ready for next week's release you know how these things go with mock draft monday and by the time i talk to you next on tuesday we should know exactly where the tag went

maybe get a couple more signings for the Titans definitely get a couple more signings around the NFL I do just want to say I am very very thankful that the NFL kept things on schedule in terms of free agency and the tag and everything like that we need this kind of news now more than ever as a welcomed and happy distraction from everything that's going on so i will be back with you guys tomorrow to talk about everything that has transpired between now and then there's going to be so much activity so much movement and all those questions that we talked about all episode heading into this offseason well it's time to get those answers. So tons of news ahead.

I'm going to be with you guys all week to break it all down. Make sure you're subscribed to the show if this is the first time that you are checking us out here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Also, follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans for all types of Titans content and analysis. Now that you're done with this episode of the Locked on Titans podcast, why don't you guys check out the Locked on NFL podcast? It's a daily show going over everything in the NFL. Really awesome show over there.

You guys should check it out. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.