Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Should The Titans Sign...Part 2: Offensive Veterans, Cornerback Depth Piece & Friday News Round-Up

Episode Date: March 5, 2021

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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, it is a Friday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. That's right, folks. We have made it to the end of the week. And on today's show I'm gonna continue what

I think is gonna be a new segment for us here on the Locked on Titans podcast and that is should the Titans sign dot dot dot so yesterday we talked about some off-ball linebackers but today I want to talk about four more names that are recently on the open market that I think the Tennessee Titans should have some interest in now. How much interest they should have, how much these guys should be paid. We will discuss all of that at the top of our show and then we will end this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by taking a look at some miscellaneous news items that have popped up in recent days.

Going to talk about some potential rule changes in the NFL. Going to talk about some scuttlebutt that's been going around here in the past few weeks pertaining to roster moves we could see next week. And then also, want to inspire you guys to end the day. Going to tell you about a Tennessee Titans player doing something very, very charitable. So a lot to talk about on this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. We are going to kick off this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast with a new

game I like to call Should the Titans Sign? We started with our inaugural segment yesterday and discussed off-ball linebackers K.J. Wright and Kyle Vannoy. And today, while we do have one defensive player to discuss, we are going to primarily focus on the offensive side of the ball with three of the four names being offensive players. So excited to dive into those names with you guys. Before we do, just a quick reminder that I am the only Tennessee Titans content provider

that you are going to find putting out Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content, not only during the season, but all year long. So make sure that you never miss an episode by subscribing to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Also, follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans, and if you would, follow the show with the new Facebook page at Locked on Titans Pod. But with all that housekeeping out of the way, let's dive into these names. And the first name that I want to talk about is actually a Tennessee native, and that is wide receiver Golden Tate, who was released by the New York Giants earlier this week.

Now, the conversation that I want to have about Golden Tate has to do with what the Titans decide to do overall with the wide receiver position? In my mind, the Titans need to bring in a cheap veteran wide receiver either to replace Adam Humphreys or to replace Corey Davis. And then whoever they decide not to replace with a veteran free agent, then they need to replace that person with a draft pick. So if you want to go out and get a cheap veteran wide receiver who can play the slot, then you draft a boundary guy high in the draft. If you want to get a cheap veteran wide receiver who can play the slot, then you draft a boundary guy high in the draft. If you want to get a cheap boundary guy in free agency, then you go out and get a quick slot receiver in the draft. It's one way or the other for me.

The Titans can go whichever way they think they can get maximum value. But to me, one of the candidates that would set them up for a maximum value situation is a Golden Tate. You look at a guy like Golden Tate who is a little bit long in the tooth. He'll be 33 this season, but he had 35 catches last year, 388 yards, two touchdowns. He did only play in 12 games, but here's what we have to take into account. Golden Tate could be anywhere from two to three to four million dollars, and in that range, the Titans are saving quite a bit of money

off what Adam Humphrey's price tag would have been at $9 million. And it doesn't put them in such a terrible position going into the draft. The Titans cannot go into the NFL draft with no additions to the wide receiver group. You can't just have A.J. Brown, Nick Westbrook, Akina, Cam Batson. You've got to have more than that going into the draft, or when you get into the draft, you're going to end up drafting for need, overdrafting certain players because you're scrambling at that point in time. So in my mind, the Titans need to add one solid veteran wide receiver,

whether that be a boundary guy or a slot guy. It's going to be up to John Robinson, but to me, if he goes with a veteran slot guy, I do like a guy like Golden Tate who they could get on the cheap returning to Tennessee which is his home state the Titans were rumored to try to trade for Golden Tate just a few years ago so clearly the organization had interest in him although the trade never manifested but in my mind Golden Tate a hometown guy the Titans have been looking at previously, who is still a lot cheaper but can give you similar production to an Adam Humphreys. That's a guy who would give the Titans, I'm not saying that's going to make a massive difference, but it at least gives them a little bit of maneuverability in the draft,

and they aren't in a tough spot where they have to go out and get two wide receivers that they hope to contribute from day one in early rounds. So it kind of frees them up to take best player available in the draft and do a little bit more. So Golden Tate is somebody I would have interest in. Of course, the price tag is what matters most. But $2.5 million, $3 million, $3.5 million, $4 million, that's pushing it. But right in that range, I would consider a guy like Golden Tate. And at his age, 33, the the production last year only playing 12 games

I don't see why he would get close to the top end of his price range Now the next name that I want to talk about is another name that may be a little bit older But I think makes a lot of sense for the Titans and I've talked about him before Actually when we discussed our cap casualties and that is tight end Jared Cook Jr. who was released by the Saints to help them clear cap space. The Saints are in a very difficult spot when it comes to cap space right now with the depressed cap. So Jared Cook Jr. last year, he's going to be 34 years old, but last year he had 37 catches, 504 yards, seven touchdowns in 15 games. So to me, you look at the connection with Todd Downing, Jared Cook Jr. was a big part of the offense for Todd Downing in Oakland during

2017. He liked to isolate him on one side of the formation, use him almost as a wide receiver, and really take advantage of matchups. And as we see with the seven touchdowns, Jared Cook Jr. can still be a matchup nightmare in the red zone. There's obviously that history with Tennessee, but it was so long ago, I feel it would be silly to count that in as a factor. But the point is, at Jared Cook's age, being 34, he'll probably want a chance to win coming back to Tennessee to kind of go full circle with his career. Point is, at Jared Cook's age, being 34, he'll probably want a chance to win coming back to Tennessee to kind of go full circle with his career.

And again, at that age, I think he could be affordable and an option for the Titans to help replace Jonu Smith if Jonu Smith were to move on in free agency. So those are two names that I have my eye on as old, cheap, veteran options that can still be productive for the Titans and quite frankly, can give their similar production, but at a much reduced rate. And when I say reduced rate, talking about Jonu, who is obviously on his rookie contract, I mean a reduced rate from what Jonu is expecting to get paid this offseason. So those are two names that I am very interested in.

Should the Titans sign them? For the right price, I do think I would support it. Now, we are going to talk about another name that I think may make even more sense at the tight end position and also talk about a defensive player who's a veteran I think could make sense for the Titans as well, who was released this week. But before we get into that conversation, I want to tell you guys about our friends over at betonline.ag. BetOnline is the fastest and easiest way to place all of your bets on all the sports action. Football might be over, but there's NBA, college basketball, March Madness right around the

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do want to tell you guys about a new podcast from the Locked On Podcast Network, and that is the Locked On Today podcast. So right now I'm covering everything you need to know about the Titans, but what about the rest of the sports world? Now the Locked On Podcast Network has you covered there as well with Locked On Today, hosted by the great Peter Bukowski, also another American cheese supporter, and it's all the sports news that you need every single morning and under 20 minutes. It's like having a sports section read to you. Subscribe to the Locked On Today, wherever you get podcasts. But let's dive into the next two names in Should the Titans Sign?

And the first one that I want to talk about, again, on the offensive side of the ball, is tight end Kyle Rudolph, who was recently released by the Minnesota Vikings. So the reason that Rudolph was released, and Rudolph was unhappy last year. He had a lot to say. He was somewhat of a malcontent for the Vikings last year because he wasn't being utilized in the way that he thought. He wasn't getting the ball. They were transitioning into using Irv Smith Jr., a tight end I'm actually personally pretty

high on, using Irv Smith Jr. a lot more as their primary tight end. And you know, Kyle Rudolph didn't like that. Thinking about that, let's start there. So thinking about that, one that does give me pause, because if Kyle Rudolph is a guy who sees himself as still a top number one tight end who should be getting the ball and getting all the snaps, well then maybe he's going to want a certain price tag that I don't think the Titans should consider paying.

I mean, Kyle Rudolph last year had 28 catches, 334 yards, one touchdown in 12 games. He's going to be 31 years old. I mean, a guy like that shouldn't be getting around $6 to $8 million. Now, let's talk about a price tag of around $4 to $5 million, $3 to $5 million. Well, in my opinion, Kyle Rudolph would be a solid guy to replace John Smith. The Titans can quell some of those concerns Rudolph would be their number one tight end and although he did not enjoy blocking in the Minnesota Vikings zone scheme maybe if he was the tight end number one and he knew that he was going to get targets as opposed to giving the targets to somebody like an Irv Smith Jr. in Minnesota maybe that would entice Kyle Rudolph

to take the spot in Tennessee I'm personally, very intrigued by Kyle Rudolph if the price tag is right, which is what all these conversations will come down to. But again, $4-5 million for Kyle Rudolph compared to $10-11 million for what John U. Smith could be paid. I think that that is a very good consolation prize. That's a very good fallback plan for the Titans. Rudolph does give you versatility. He can block when he's engaged. that is a very good consolation prize. That's a very good fallback plan for the Titans. Rudolph does give you versatility. He can block when he's engaged. He can be a receiving threat. He is going

to help in the red zone. So I think that that would be an option that makes sense. With Jared Cook Jr., he's not going to be blocking in line. I mean, he may be there, but that's not something that he has a strong suit in. That's not one of the better parts of his game. Kyle Rudolph gives you a little more versatility and can help you out with blocking a little bit more, which obviously in the Titans scheme is so very important. It may not be a perfect fit, but if Jonu walks, the Titans are going to be in a tough spot at tight end,

and they're obviously not going to be able to spend, spend, spend on tight end, so they're going to have to find a veteran that they can trust to block and catch the ball that's going to be at a cheaper reduced rate than what Jonu Smith was getting. And quite frankly, I think that Kyle Rudolph fits that bill. Now, Kyle Rudolph is an Ohio kid, and there are some rumors that the Bengals would be interested in bringing him home for the end of his career. Maybe that nostalgia would appeal to him and he would go there. But again, depends on the price tag. I think at about $4 to $5 million, the Titans could get a steal with Kyle Rudolph. And if you're thinking in your head it could be even cheaper, well, even cheaper makes

it even much more plausible in my mind. So I do like Kyle Rudolph as a suitable replacement if Jonu Smith was to leave. Rudolph as a suitable replacement if Johnnie Smith was to leave. Now, after talking about three offensive players, I do want to dive into the lone defensive player on my list. And I'm not completely married. I am much more interested in Golden Tate, Jared Cook Jr., and Kyle Rudolph than I am this last player. But depending on what happens with the Titans cornerback situation,

this name could make sense, and I'll explain why. The name is Desmond Trufant. Now, that's obviously a guy that most of you have heard of. Trufant was one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL during his athletic prime. Now, he is going to be pushing it here. He's going to be 32 years old this season. He only played in six games last year, had one interception, 20 tackles, and four pass breakups.

But the six games obviously gives you concerns. He's an older player dealing with injuries. But if the Titans were to cut one of Adoree Jackson or cut one of Malcolm Butler, it's the same conversation that I had with you guys about wide receiver. The Titans cannot go into the draft with only Christian Fulton and Malcolm Butler and then who knows who's going to be the third guy right now. We'll draft another rookie. I just don't think that that's the plan that they should follow. They should have themselves a veteran backup plan if the draft board doesn't fall the

way that they're hoping it falls. Now you can think of an example like Jonathan Joseph, but hear me out. Rather than having your fourth cornerback be 36, 37 years old and on his way out of the NFL and more of a coach, you bring in a guy like Desmond Trufant who can play that other boundary cornerback with Malcolm Butler or Adoree Jackson. Then you have Christian Fulton in the slot or Christian Fulton outside and Adoree Jackson in the slot. Either way, then you have three cornerbacks who you can realistically count on and know that you are going to be playing with those guys.

Then you can go draft another cornerback in the middle rounds to help develop whatever just opens you up to different possibilities. But for me, like I said, I'm not huge on this idea, but if the Titans do cut one of Adorey Jackson or Malcolm Butler and they look for a veteran option and free agency to add as a depth piece to somebody they can count on at least to know what they're doing when they get out there, I think Desmond Trufant would make a lot of sense. Now, I would not be willing to pay what Desmond Trufant may be hoping to command, and maybe some team that's very desperate for cornerback help will look at his name, look at his pedigree,

and they'll give him $7-8 million. But for me, a $2-3 million contract for Desmond Trufant for one year, I wouldn't be 100% against that. I simply wouldn't. So that's going to do it for this Friday edition of Should the Titans Sign? We're probably going to do this a couple more times until we get to free agency, especially next week when the words that are being thrown around are massacre and bloodbath. So I'll explain why those are the terms that are being used to describe

next week in the NFL in our third segment when we look at some of the random national news stories and of course our Friday inspiration. Now before we get into that I want to tell you guys about rockauto.com. Rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving auto parts customers online for 20 years. Make sure you go to rockauto.com today and shop for all of your auto and body parts needs from hundreds of different manufacturers, all the brands, specifications, and prices that you prefer. Best of all, prices at rockauto.com are always reliably low

and they're the same for professionals or do-it-yourselfers. So go to rockauto.com right now, see all the parts available for your car or truck, and write LOCKED ON in the how did you hear about us box so they know that we sent you. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. it is Friday ladies and gentlemen I certainly hope you guys are ready to have a safe and enjoyable weekend now I do want to say before we get into our final conversation of the day that I am very, very excited for what's to come here.

We have NFL free agency just a few weeks away and having these conversations about who makes sense for the Titans, how much money should the Titans pay them. I just love it. It gets me going. I love having those conversations with you guys on Twitter as well. That's why I just want to take another moment to remind you guys, the show is free, so bear with me. Subscribe to the Locked

On Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Like I said, Monday through Friday content you cannot miss out, especially when free agency actually kicks off. You're not going to want to miss any of my reaction to the moves that the Titans make when things really get popping. And to get my immediate reaction to things,

make sure that you follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Follow the show at LockedOnTitansPod on Facebook. I started a new Facebook page, so I would appreciate any support that you guys could get. Also, the mailbag will be on Monday. If you guys want to get your questions in early right now before I put up my post, tag me in a tweet at TicTacTitans. Put it as a review in Apple iTunes. Either way, I will get to your questions. I will shout you out, read and respond on Monday's show

in the Monday mailbag as we always do. But with all that out of the way here, let's dive into some of these miscellaneous NFL stories that have popped up over the last few days. And the number one that I want to get into is some league rules that could be changing in the NFL. So number one, here is the first rule I want to talk about and it was submitted by the Buffalo Bills. So number one, here is the first rule I want to talk about, and it was submitted by the Buffalo Bills. So the way this works is teams actually submit these ideas to the NFL, and the Buffalo Bills have submitted a rule change proposal to the NFL that would bar interviews for front office and coaching positions until after the conference title games and hirings until after the Super Bowl.

Per Albert Breer, who had this report, owners could vote on it this offseason. It would be a big change. So let me just break down just in case you didn't fully understand the tweet. What it's saying is instead of how it is now after the season ends, if your team is out, your coaches can start interviewing for other jobs. But if you're like the Titans, like Arthur Smith, the Titans made the playoffs. So Arthur Smith could not interview for a job until his team was out of the running and the NFL wants, well, the Bills want to change that. And I fully agree here because what happens is when you're a head coach

and you have a chance to or when you're an offensive coordinator you're a defensive coordinator you're an assistant coach and you have a chance to become a head coach if your team makes the playoffs and you're unable to do all those interviews why other candidates are doing those interviews there's a high likelihood that you don't get a coaching job and you're being punished for your team going deep into the playoffs. Think about it. Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Bills offensive coordinator Brian Dable, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric offensive coordinator, Eric Biennemi, all had requested

interviews to be head coaches. None of them got jobs. Now, you could say that the reason they didn't get jobs is because those guys weren't qualified to get the jobs. The teams didn't want them, but there is no way to spin it other than if your team goes deeper into the playoffs, it puts you at a disadvantage of getting one of those head coaching jobs or getting a promotion on another team. So I think it would be fair, more fair than the current situation, to make everyone wait, everyone in the NFL, no matter what, wait until a specific time when then you could start interviewing people.

Obviously, like it says here, until after the conference title games, that week between the bye week between the conference title games and the Super Bowl, teams could start interviewing guys then even if they were in the Super Bowl. And then after the Super Bowl, hirings can actually take place. Now, I know a lot of teams are going to reject that because these NFL teams want to get the process going as quick as possible. You don't want to have to wait four weeks for the playoffs to happen to get your head coach in and start making changes to the staff, start getting ready for the draft, start getting ready for free agency, start accommodating themselves to the building and their office

and their circumstances, the other people in the building as well. Teams don't want to wait, and they're not going to wait. So the only way that the NFL can ensure that all of these coaches get a fair opportunity and a fair chance at head coaching jobs is to make it a designated period ad regulations. I know they need to make a designated period where interviews begin and when hirings can happen like they do with free agency, they do this to the players.

So there's no reason that they can't do this with the coaches, and it would make things more fair for the coaches whose teams are doing better and are more successful. It only makes sense. I fully 100% agree with it. The other rule change here is something we actually talked about last year, and it was the Philadelphia Eagles trying to create an onside kick alternative. And they're proposing that rule again here. Onside kick alternative.

It would give the team a chance to maintain possession if they converted on a 4th and 15 play. So the proposal had growing support in recent years. Last year, it was a 16-16 vote. Dead split down the middle. It takes 24 votes to pass anything in these meetings. So will this onside kick alternative rule this year get more support and get those 24 votes? I don't know. I don't know, but I will report on it for you guys. Fourth and 15 is kind of shaky. To me, it would be better to look at what the percentage chance

was of recovering an onside kick with the way the onside kicks used to be and then looking at fourth and whatever yardage percentage wise lines up to that so the probability of recovering your own onside kick under the old rules versus the probability of converting a fourth and X yards play. They should try to match those up so that it makes sense. But that's another rule that's going to be interesting to watch and see what happens with that. Because it was, I think, 12 years ago today or 13 years ago today when the New Orleans Saints had that surprise onside kick in the Super Bowl that they recovered that totally changed that Super Bowl. Well, as I said on Twitter, that is an impossibility in the current setup with the current rules and how things are.

And the fact that a play like that simply cannot happen and is impossible in the NFL, well, that's bad for the product. That's bad for the games. That's bad for comeback attempts. And ultimately, it's bad for TV. And this is an entertainment business. Never forget this. Football is an entertainment product, no different than a soap opera on CBS at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, okay? This is just a manly soap opera that we all love, guys.

So to me, make it good TV. Find a way to get onside kicks or at least an alternative to onside kicks back into the game so teams have a realistic chance to come back. Next, the next little thing that I want to talk about is something that I mentioned at the end of last segment, and it's just some quotes here. I'm not going to give you guys the exact quotes, but we got an anonymous NFL executive that said next week, next week in the NFL, starting March the 7th, is going to be a massacre.

And to contextualize that, Bidwell, I forget the guy's first name, having a blank, just let me live. But the owner of the Arizona Cardinals, Michael Bidwell, boom, boom, you doubted me, didn't you? Michael Bidwell from the Arizona Cardinals said it would quote unquote be a major shift in talent. Let me translate. So basically what's happening here is with the depressed salary cap, teams are going to have to get under the salary cap or they face a $5 million fine and loss of draft picks. And because of that, we're going to see good players who in other

regular off seasons would not be cut, be cut because teams have to save money. Kyle Vannoy from the Dolphins is a great example. I said yesterday, he didn't get cut because he played poorly or didn't live up to his contract. He got cut simply because the Dolphins had to save some money. So we're going to see a ton of players who you would not expect get cut this year and be free agents.

And with the amount of free agents that are going to be on the market and the lack of money that's going to be on the market, you should expect to see a lot of really quality football players take cheap one-year deals, hoping that they can cash in on a regular market next year. And I certainly hope the Titans are able to take advantage of that kind of market. So I wanted to talk about that with you guys. And then our Friday inspiration real quick, just want to dive into this. And it comes from a guy, we talk about Isaiah Wilson and how the Titans got their personality

and their character evaluation wrong with Isaiah Wilson. But we have to look at a guy like Jeffrey Simmons, who it's well documented the red flags that were around him coming out of the draft, not just the ACL, but you know, the physicality incident, the assault incident that took place when he was in high school. But Jeffrey Simmons has turned into a stellar teammate and a stellar man in the community. And I want to continue to let you guys know about that. So obviously the winter storms hit pretty hard, especially in the South, and they hit Jeffrey Simmons' home state of Mississippi pretty hard as well. Well, Simmons is doing what

he can to help out his community. Last Friday, he actually passed out signed t-shirts and had meals provided by a local eatery. He passed those out to local law enforcement officials, passed those out to electrical workers who are trying to rebuild the city in Macon, Mississippi. So he pretty much did anything he could to help, donated a lot of money, donated his time, made sure that he's helping out his community. He had this to say, quote, I take pride in doing this. I take pride in just being able to show people that I don't have a hot head, as people say. I just want to show people that no matter how far I go or how far in life I go, I'm always going to remember Noxabee County.

I'm always going to give back. He also said, or not him, but an electrical worker who Jeffrey Simmons helped out had this to say, quote, it's good to see somebody come in here and reinvest their time in the community. I like to see that as a parent of children who are growing up in the community. So end quote there. Jeffrey Simmons not only impacting his own community, not only dispelling the noise around what kind of person he was pre-draft, also helping those workers and setting a good example for the children of that community as well that no matter what you do, how successful you are, you need to come back and help the people who helped raise you.

So got to give credit to Jeffrey Simmons. People want to talk down on Jeffrey Simmons. And quite frankly, he's a player that I have a ton of respect for. And, you know, football wise, I'm falling in love with watching him play. He makes football fun. I get excited to turn on the tape and watch Jeffrey Simmons and knowing that he's doing this kind of stuff in the background, it's part of the reason why I gravitated so quickly and so hard to Kevin Byard. He's not only a fantastic player out on the field, but he's a great guy and he's doing everything he can to use the fortunate circumstances he's in to give that

back and pay that back. And it looks like Jeffrey Simmons is on that path as well. And I want to give a little credit to Kevin Byard as a leader who I'm sure is having those discussions with guys in the locker room. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. Another excellent week on the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm going to be back with you guys on Monday. Like I said, have a safe and enjoyable weekend. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.