Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Breaking Down Malcolm Butler and Dion Lewis; More Free Agent News

Episode Date: March 14, 2018

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Welcome in to a very exciting edition of Locked On Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you? Doing well. I'm surprised, but I'm doing well. Yeah, it's been a busy day, so we've got a lot to get to. Before we do that, we will remind you that Terry and I write for MusicCityMiracles.com, covering the Titans for SB Nation. It feels like we've got like 30 posts up there today

with everything that's happened on the free agent market. So check that out. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry is at tlambertfb. Podcast account at LockedOnTitans. So follow all three places there. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Search LockedOnTitans, Stitcher, Spotify, all those places you can get the podcast. So wherever it is that you look for podcasts, you can find there. All right, so busy day around the NFL and turned out to be a busy day for the Titans now. As of I left work at 4.30, and Twitter was burning. The Titans were – they never do anything for agency. They're laid back, and they don't win Super Bowls and all that kind of stuff. That was the fan reaction we were getting on Twitter. And then I'm not 10 minutes on the road and get a text from Terry saying that the Titans signed Malcolm Butler.

And a little bit surprising there. I mean, obviously, we get the connection, right? The Patriots, Sean Ross, and all that kind of stuff. So, I mean, you connect those dots. It does make sense but the money that he got Terry and I were talking before we jumped on here um as far as we can remember the richest contract that the Titans have ever given a guy in free agency so you know obviously we we've talked I guess off and on about the need at cornerback um and how big of a need it is.

Obviously, it was something that John Robinson felt like he really needed to address. I mean, when you give a guy a five-year, $61 million deal with $30 million guaranteed, that's obviously something they were trying to get out. They wanted to address. And so this gives the Titans the best cornerback group they've ever had. They've been here with Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, and Dory Jackson as your top three. That's a really good group. But, you know, I think you as well, I mean, I think we were both a little bit surprised that,

one, they signed Butler, and two, they gave him as much money as they did. Yeah, and I think we were both kind of in the same boat. If they were going to pay up, they were going to go get one of these receivers. And I think we both kind of of in the same boat. If they were going to pay up, they were going to go get one of these receivers. And I think we both kind of thought that was really unlikely. So I think the market just kind of at receiver got out of control really all over the place. So you've got Malcolm Butler out there. That's an obvious dot to connect. But, I mean, you had LaShawn Sims there.

You had Ty Smith who played well down the stretch now this is an obvious upgrade uh did they have to go make this deal no uh doesn't make a lot better i think it does um and i thought hutton made a really really good point last night think about how much bryce mccain played uh just in the slot on the outside everywhere teams went after bryce mccain so in today's nfl you got to have three four five corners that can play titans have five corners that can play legitimately now so uh that's exciting uh that's keeping up with the times in the nfl uh you're no longer gonna see the titans get bullied through the air i mean we're talking about being two years removed from having the worst secondary in all of football

with Parrish Cox and Valentino Blake. So it's kind of amazing how far they've come. Yeah, and it's interesting because now you're talking about in, quote, base defense to cornerback, which teams don't spend much time in in today's NFL. But we assume at this point that your outside corners in in that are dory jackson and malcolm butler so logan ryan who was your big ticket free agent guy last season is not on the field in base defense now again you know the the

when you look at the percentage of snaps that they're at least in nickel you you know that logan ryan is going to be on the field plenty. But like you said, it just goes to show that you need three guys, and the Titans knew they needed three guys. Now they've got three front-line guys as their number one. There are obviously some concerns with Malcolm Butler. He was benched for the Super Bowl. To my knowledge, we've never really learned what actually went down there.

It just seems, you know, the Patriots after the game, that they had, I guess, packages that Malcolm Butler would have been out there in, and those packages never came up, which makes very little sense considering he had played, I think it was like, what, 97%, 98% of the snaps throughout the season. But the thing that makes me feel a little bit better about it is obviously john robinson mike vrabel well connected with the pages organization so i i would say if anybody knows the story they know it uh there was also a report tonight that the

lions were in on malcolm butler where where matt patricia is now the head coach who was the uh patriots defensive coordinator this past season in the Super Bowl. So he would obviously know what went down there. So it seems to me like whatever it was wasn't a big enough deal that people that are in the know were that concerned about Butler going forward. And then I had a post on Museum Miracles Tonight. I saw a guy from a Boston media Media, his name escapes me right now, but talking about how he said he's been to basically every Patriots practice

for the last, I think, 10 or 15 years. And the two guys that stood out to him as being intense every day in practice were Teddy Bruschi and Malcolm Butler. Basically, he said that Butler played every snap like rent money and food money were on the line so i mean those are the kind of things you like to hear those are the kind of things that that mike vrabel john robinson had talked about looking for in guys so if that's the guy that you're getting coming in here i mean i think you have to be excited about it again i'm a little bit surprised with with the money that they gave him, but Titans have cap space.

If he's a guy that's going to come in and help them. And, again, I think, to me, this says John Robinson thinks they are one or two players away from being a legitimate Super Bowl contender. So he found his guy. He went out there and got him. Can't fault him for that. Yeah, and Butler was better last year than he was this year. 2016 was easily his best year.

Even according to PFF, they had an 88.1 grade on him. That fell off to a 79.2. And, you know, just putting the stats aside, I remember watching the playoffs this year and seeing Butler struggle. So I'm interested to see if the Titans can kind of work that out. Maybe a fresh start kind of work that out and maybe a fresh start kind of gets him in the in the right gear right state of mind and really his whole fit with the patriots you know you already talked about the the benching and the super bowl even going back to 2016 there were trade rumors out there uh he was apparently headed to the saints

for a second rounder and then he was involved with the Brandon Cook stuff. But I find it pretty interesting that his defensive coordinator was coming after him, Matt Patricia with the Lions, and then another Patriots guy was coming after him too. So I don't know. Something doesn't add up there. Maybe the friction was with Belichick himself. But it's interesting that the Titans and Lions felt good enough to push all their chips to the middle of the table on Butler. Yeah, absolutely.

And, again, you know, the Titans got up there and did something on day one. So they're going to have a secondary that is going to be – I mean, it has to be in the conversation. It's one of the best in the league. Now, you know, you've got Jonathan Cipriani, obviously, obviously a weak link there. And he's the guy they paid a bunch of money to in free agency last year. But, I mean, I think with better cornerback play,

hopefully better play, you know, up front, pass rushing, and then you've got, obviously, Kevin Byard, one of the best safeties in the league, you can hopefully kind of hide Ziprin a little bit. So, anyway, we'll see about all that. Coming up, we'll talk a little bit. So anyway, we'll see about all that. Coming up, we'll talk a little bit about the big running back addition that the Titans made. So not long after the Malcolm Butler thing, it was announced that the Titans were agreeing to terms with Deion Lewis.

Later it came out. It's a four-year deal. It can be worth up to, think 23 million 11.5 million of that guarantee is guaranteed a few things on that one i think that makes lewis like the eighth highest paid running back in the league which is just crazy to think about yeah the the guys making five million a year is the eighth highest running back that goes to to show you how running backs are valued in today's nfl and then you made the point before we jumped on there's a lot of guys that are still in their rookie contracts too so that that affects that as well um but my fear with

dion lewis and i had written about early earlier day when the report came out the titans were you know in on lewis and there were six or seven other teams that were that were in there as well my fear was that you know if price was going to get driven up with that market, and I didn't want to pay a bunch of money to a running back. I think he might have gotten the draft, and we've talked obviously a ton about that over the last couple weeks. But when you see the terms of that deal, when you look at Lewis being 28 years old, but he's a guy that hasn't been used much. lewis being 28 years old but he's a guy that hasn't been used much it's not like you know demarco murray when he came here you knew that there he'd been used so much that he a year maybe

two um but hit that wall that running backs hit it's different with deon lewis he hasn't been used like murray was um you know he saw the the three down back roll for a couple of weeks at the end of the season with the patriots and early in the playoffs. Proved that he could be successful in that role. I think it's a great signing for the Titans. I think he's a guy that comes in and gives them a pass-catching threat out of the backfield, which we talked a lot about what they need. He obviously understands pass protection,

which, again, we talked a little bit about with Hutton last night, how key that is. You know, I don't know. I don't see the downside here. They didn't give him a ton of money. Like I said, $11.5 million guaranteed. I'm going to assume that most of that money is going to be in this first year because, you know, obviously the Titans have a ton of cap space this season. So I love this signing for the Titans.

It's hard to believe, but DeMarco Murray had 392 carries that year you were referencing in Dallas. Deong has 309 career carries in the NFL. He's been in the league since 2011. He's 28 years old, but there's no wear on him. So it's interesting. Maybe you talk about that wall that running backs hit at 30. Maybe he's not going to hit that wall. So you've got Derrick Henry in the fold there too.

I'm interested to see how that rotation works. I think we were all excited to see Henry carry the load. I'm just not sure you're going to see that. You're talking about a guy in Deion Lewis that shouldered the load for the Patriots for most of the year. A guy's that's small but he's quick and has this burst he's going to be hard to keep off the field I don't know it's going to be interesting to see and I don't have an answer for you right now but I mean obviously this guy's going to come in and beat the third down back he's going to be the pass catching back.

He's a veteran that you can trust. I worry about a rookie learning his way. I wouldn't rule out a rookie, certainly, on day three. I think the Titans are still in for a guy like a John Kelly type. We've seen

the Patriots themselves had four running backs that they used last year. So I think the Titans are going to add one more. But, yeah, there's not just this Lewis deal. I mean, $5 million a year for a guy that's going to add some explosiveness, this offense, some short area quickness. I'm a big fan. Yeah, that's the thing.

It will be interesting to see how the rotation plays out. Like you said, a lot of people were excited about derrick henry and him getting that you know full-time workload i just don't think we're going to see it now um i think he'll have a role obviously but i'm just not sure how much different it's going to be than what we've seen from the last couple of years and so you know he's struggling in pass protection he he can catch the ball to backfield but that's not you know his strength necessarily so you've got dan lewis that can do all those things and like you said you know we've spent a ton of time talking about running backs in this draft looking at running backs in this draft talking about sonny michelle you know

how much we love him and i i good point i mean i don't think it takes them out of the the running back conversation altogether but i don't i don't think you can see them take one before day three now uh it's just not it's not as big of a need now um and so it that kind of just things and we've talked about that as we've gone along that you know we can we can talk about needs and all that kind of stuff but we won't really know what draft needs are going to be until we see how how free agency plays out so i mean i'm really excited i think that you know the the two moves they made today make the team a lot better um have addressed things that you know you're putting it upgrades and they spent smart money that they had in places and so you know we'll see how that plays out but the offense is better right now than it was 24 hours ago uh having dion lewis in the fold and

it frees them up to you know take the best player available type approach in the draft and so you know you're not forced to you know it feel like in the first second round you have to get that pass catching running back you've got that guy first, second round, you have to get that pass-catching running back. You've got that guy now. If somebody falls to you that you're in love with, sure, you can go ahead and see them. But it just frees them up to do some other things. So, again, it's just funny, like I said, that however many hours ago, everybody was freaking out because the Titans weren't going to do anything.

And all these guys were gone, and there was nobody left to sign. And now we're sitting here, and we're like, hey, that was a pretty good day. The one other thing to mention, Josh Klein, there's multiple reports that the Titans are in negotiations with him, and it sounds like they'll get something done before free agency actually opens Wednesday at 3 central time. So look for that to get done. And then we talked last night

about quentin spain so it looks like the titans will have their starting five from last year on the offensive line back um we'll be we'll keep an eye on what happens with quentin spain i won't be surprised if he gets an offer from another team and then we'll see what the titans choose to do there but you know the offensive line has been good. They weren't as good in 2017 as they were in 2016. But they've got some stuff to build on, obviously a new scheme, and we'll see how that plays out. But if you've got a solid offensive line,

keeping the continuity there is a good thing. Yeah, the Spain thing really surprised me i mean you're talking about a young guy a young powerful guard that you found uh and and really had the option to keep uh for next to nothing and they chose to to put the smallest tenor tenor on him so uh i don't know it feels like like hudton said last night, I think they like him, but I think they're wanting him to test that market, and I think they think that they can do better. So maybe they get in on a guy like Josh Sitton.

Maybe they feel good about this draft coming up. Maybe they keep him and draft one, too. So if I had to guess, I'd say it's all scheme related. Spain's not going to move around a whole lot. He would fit better in that power scheme. But I still think he's a player worth keeping for sure. And I didn't think we'd be talking about getting rid of Spain and keeping Klein.

Yeah, it is kind of a bizarre world as far as that's concerned. But again, like you said, you just look at the scheme and what it's going to require, and Klein will probably end up having a better year in 2018 than he did in 2017. So like I said, it sounds like they're going to get something done with him, so we'll keep an eye on that as we go throughout the day tomorrow. All right, coming up, we'll talk a little bit about just some things

that happened around the league because it was a really crazy day and really unlike anything that we've ever seen before. All right, so one more note on, I guess, Titans players or at least former Titans players at this point. Avery Williamson is going to sign with the New York Jets, according to Ian Rappaport. We talked about Avery Williamson is going to sign with the New York Jets, according to Ian Rappaport. We talked about Avery Williamson last night and about how he was kind of an expendable piece at this point. And the Titans probably had a number set on him, a value on him that they were willing to go to.

They, I guess, kind of told him what that was and let him go out there and see if he could beat it. And apparently the Jets did, and we talked about him. We talked about that as a possibility last night with Hutton. So, you know, he's a guy that is a solid player, was a good find for the Titans. But, you know, just with the way the NFL is going, them drafting Jayon Brown, the reemergence, I guess, of Wesley Woodyard last year. Not really all that surprising to see Williamson walk. Yeah, not really upset about it.

I think the Titans need to add some speed. It's time to kind of evolve and add some speed, maximize coverage. I think you've seen them take that step with Butler. I think you're going to see the linebackers evolve. So I think you'll see them out of that. I think they have to. I'm not sure they can just roll with Jay on from day one. I think they want some competition there

and a backup plan in case things don't go to plan. So interesting that situation there but as a whole i mean i felt like we went through three or four days of free agency today i mean it was just why i woke up and my phone had you know 20 tweets of news today uh the receiver money was just insane sammy walken's got 16 million per 30 $30 million guaranteed. That's a guy that we talked about with the Titans a lot. John Robinson was just never going to get into that. I think you saw him spend his money a little more wisely on Malcolm Butler,

and I'm certainly glad he did. Yeah, that was crazy. Again, I think it speaks a little bit to just this class of free agent wide receivers, even in the draft. There's not the top-end guys like there were last year. So, you know, when that happens, it's supply and demand, right? You know those guys are going to get more money than maybe they're worth. Was a little bit surprised to see Watkins get more than Allen Robinson

just because Allen Robinson has a better track record. Now he is coming off of a pretty serious, significant injury. So, you know, I guess you have to kind of weigh all that out. But, you know, yeah, that just wasn't – I don't know. I get why the Chiefs did it. They needed somebody opposite Tyreek Hill. They've got money. You want to surround your second-year quarterback,

but a rookie starter in Patrick Mahomes, you want to give that guy weapons. So it makes sense for them. But when you look at what the Titans have, it wouldn't have made sense at all for them to spend that kind of money. And then when you look at it, just all the way down the list, you've got Ryan Grant getting almost $30 million over four years. It's just insane. A guy that's never had more than 40 catches, 40-yard catches, whatever it is.

So it is. It's silly money season. We kind of see it every year. But it did seem like, I saw, I saw a tweet, I think, from Wade Phillips tonight asking if there were any free agents left, and free agency hasn't opened yet. And obviously there are still guys. But, I mean, it just seems like every guy that we've talked about over the last couple weeks, they were connected to somebody today.

And I don't know. I mean, maybe my memory is not all that good, but I just don't remember seeing this many guys with reported deals before free agency opens. And last year, I remember right before the free agency period actually opened, which is what we're going to have on Wednesday, there were a bunch of trades that went down. So we could still even see some more of that stuff tomorrow, things that we're not necessarily even thinking about right now. You could see some action there. So it's just every year it amazes me how much money these different guys get, again, how much panic there is within the fan base.

And I saw Acme Packing Company, which is the Packers blog for SB Nation, when the Packers announced that they were going to sign Jimmy Graham, I saw that they tweeted out something like, there, are you happy now? So, I mean, it seems like they were kind of fielding similar things to what we were as far as the Titans fan base panicking. But, you know, it's kind of the same thing every year. But, again, I just preach that you trust what John Robinson's doing. You trust that he has a plan for how he's going to build this roster.

We saw that today play out, you know, obviously being patient, waiting until the end of the day. But we know that the best way to build a team is through the draft. And John Robinson talked about that and how important that is. How important it is to have guys on your roster that are worth paying. And we know the Titans are about to enter a season where they've got guys, LaJuan, Mariota, Conklin, Byer, guys that they've drafted that are really good players that are going to command a lot of money. So that's obviously a good problem to have, and it's something the Titans haven't faced over the last few years.

But you just have to keep all that in mind when you're looking at what the Titans are going to spend and what they're doing in free agency. And again, he spent a bunch of money on Malcolm Butler. We'll see how that plays out. He made a smart deal with a Deion Lewis. If he has another good draft where you get a couple of solid starters, then you're talking about a roster

that is extremely talented. A team that still is going to have some cap space. It's not looking at a couple years being in cap jail like it seems like the Jacksonville Jaguars have got to be at some point because they keep signing every free agent every year um and that's just not it's not the recipe for long-term sustainable success yeah i agree totally um where do you think the titans are going to go next here uh it's it's kind of an interesting question because the receiver market just seemed to go fast and furious today.

I mean, everything from the very top to Taylor Gabriel to Ryan Grant. I think the Titans still have to get one. And, you know, some people have said, well, what's the point now? The point now is just adding depth. I mean, I don't think you want another rookie in the mix behind Corey Davis, Taewon Taylor, and Tajay Sharp. I think you want a veteran present. So, you know, there's going to be plenty of talk about Jordy Nelson. I think every NFL fan base freaked out when Jordy hit the market.

But you've got to understand that that's the shell of the former Jordy Nelson. Coming off an acl tear was not himself he's not that explosive dynamic down the field threat uh you saw the production fall off uh last year and granted aaron rogers was hurt but that's not the same guy uh so that's a 33 year old receiverold receiver that's going to get paid. So that's just not an avenue that I see the Titans going down. And the other thing is the backup quarter market. You saw McCown get $10 million a year from the Jets.

You saw Teddy Bridgewater also go to the Jets. So what's Sean Robinson going to do there? Is there anybody that stands out to him? I don't know, but those are the two positions where I would go to next. Yeah, I think, like you said, you're going to see him at a receiver. You're going to see him at a backup quarterback and maybe a safety. We talked a little bit about that last night. They just don't have any depth at that position.

So, I mean, I think that's what we'll see. But, you know, at this point you're probably waiting until Wave 2 because, I mean, all those – Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, like I said, McCown. I mean, all those guys got deals today or reported – Glennon, yeah, reported to have deals coming up when free agency opens. So now you're looking at like an A.J. McCarron who everybody assumed was gonna was gonna get paid to go be a starter somewhere what does he do now um and then you kind of see the the market settle there they're gonna find a guy from from that group that's remaining um there will be an upgrade from matt castle and then you're looking at depth other positions and again it's a good place for the titans to be it's a good place that they're not looking for starters in this second wave of free agency. They're looking for guys that can come in, add depth, create competition, that kind of stuff.

So, you know, again, I'm glad for the fan base's sanity. They signed a couple of guys tonight. I think that helps. of guys tonight. I think that helps, but overall, the Titans are in a really good spot roster-wise because they didn't have to go out and do a bunch of stuff here.

I think, again, it's a good place to be. They'll continue to build the roster through the draft. Pay guys that you know that have grown up in your organization, and that's the recipe for long-term success. So we'll be back tomorrow.

We'll have official signings tomorrow. You know, all the stuff that we're talking about today, none of it's going to be official until the new league year starts at 3 o'clock on Wednesday. So we'll be back tomorrow night to kind of summarize everything that's happened. And like I said, I think you'll see a couple more things that they get done uh between now and then so we'll wrap all that up terry anything else we need to hit tonight i'm sure we missed a bunch of stuff but uh we'll be back tomorrow to talk totally since yeah we got we got titan specific stuff and there's i mean it was

just crazy every time we turned around uh the you know the jaguars were signing we didn't talk about that norwell uh moncrief marquis lee i mean they did a bunch of stuff today i don't know how someone's not explaining to me i know it's crazy but uh anyway so at some point we'll take a step back and and especially like look at the afc south in particular and and what they what the different teams in our division have done there. But anyway, so we'll try to keep pace with all that. Like I said, between now and then, check out museummiracles.com. We're updating stuff as fast as we can there.

As quickly as news breaks, we try to get it up there. So check that out. Subscribe to the podcast. Follow us on Twitter at jmorrismcm at tlambertfb at locked on titans so check all that out you'll be up to date

and again we'll be back with another edition of locked on titans tomorrow night so for Terry this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening and we'll talk to you again tomorrow