Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans BIG MISS Jevon Holland Picks Giants, Cam Ward or Tank & Titans Dump Ryan Stonehouse

Episode Date: March 12, 2025

The Tennessee Titans missed big on Day 2 of free agency, failing to sign safety Jevon Holland who ultimately went to the New York Giants. While Holland is not franchise-changing, it was a great value possibility that leaves them with worse options. Will Fries, the top interior player on the market, also came off the board and created more questions on the offensive line. At this point, with the quarterback market being what it is, the Titans are facing a scenario where it is Cam Ward or tank. Either way, they need some better receivers and some better pass rushers. Finally, the Titans replaced Ryan Stonehouse with All-Pro Johnny Hekker along with letting Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Jack Gibbens go.  Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterhelpDiscover your relationship “green flags” with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. 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)

The Tennessee Titans missed big on day two of free agency, but that doesn't mean they didn't make any moves. I'm breaking it all down on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day, welcome locked on Titans podcast. I am your host Tyler Roland Titans fans. It's a day to recap a free agency.

The Tennessee Titans miss big on a big target, but they do make some additions and make some other big changes. I'm going to go over all of them with you guys, explain why it's either big target, but they do make some additions and make some other big changes. I'm going to go over all of them with you guys, explain why it's either cam ward or tank in 2025 and talk about how it's clear. The Titans are restarting a brand new culture before we get into all of it. Do you want to thank you for making locked on Titans your first listen each and every day?

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lock on Titans get subscribed, stay subscribed to your team every day. But again, the Titans miss big starting off day two of free agency, Javon Holland, the safety formerly of the Miami dolphins goes to the New York giants on what I thought was a very cheap deal for what we were here in the Javon Holland, the safety formerly of the Miami Dolphins goes to the New York Giants on what I thought was a very cheap deal for what we were hearing the market could be for Javon Holland. It was a three-year deal, $45 million, only $30 million guaranteed. So really it's a two-year deal where $15 million per season.

We were hearing that Javon Holland might get $20 million per year. So the fact that it came in so low. Was disappointing to me again, Javon Holland just turned 25 years old, rangy in the backend has ball production early in his career. He's a guy who could grow with the Tennessee Titans at his age. He could be a part of really competitive Tennessee Titans teams in a couple of years, two years from now, three years from now, when the Tennessee Titans should in theory be a competitive team and would have enough

time to build this roster back up. Javon Holland would still be in his absolute prime. So the fact that the Titans not only didn't get Javon Holland, but didn't get him at the price tag that he came in at that was completely disappointing for me. And you started to look at the safety market. Justin Reed goes off the board. It's like, are the Titans going to go with a Julian Blackman? Who's always hurt?

Are they going to go to Justin Simmons? Who's 31 about to turn 32? Are they going to go back Justin Simmons, who's 31 about to turn 32? Are they going to go back to Quandre Diggs? Well, we have our answer because the Tennessee Titans went to Xavier Woods, Xavier Woods, long time veteran safety in the NFL. He's been in the NFL for eight years now. Okay, so a long time veteran played a ton of games in his career, 123 games. This is a theme Did the Tennessee Titans free agent signing so far have all fit in? Durability durability the number one thing that stands out about Xavier Woods is

He plays all the time as he plays all the time. 16 games, 14 games, 15 games, 15 games, 17 games, 15 games, 14 games, 17 games. He played the most snaps in the NFL last year. Had 119 tackles, has had five interceptions in the last two seasons. I would tell you this, Xavier Woods is not as good of a player as Javon Holland and the Titans paid Xavier Woods. I think it was 10 million dollars a season. I think it's the contract that's being reported right now one year 10 million dollars. I personally would rather pay up if I'm honest with you, I would have rather paid up for

Jovan Holland, but at the end of the day, Xavier Woods, a two-year deal, $10 million, that's it. So $5 million per se, so cheap, and it's just a consistent veteran. Xavier Woods is not incredible at anything. He doesn't have incredible range. He doesn't have incredible speed. He doesn't have incredible ball production. He's not incredibly physical. He's not an incredible one-on-one man guy on tight ends, but he's just a solid veteran across the board. Who's going to be durable. Who's going to be out

on the field. Who's only going to cost you $5 million for two seasons. But at the end of the day, my big takeaway here from what the Titans are doing is they're just filling spots for the year. The Titans aren't outright tanking. They're not purposefully trying to be as terrible as possible, but they're also not doing anything to sacrifice future draft capital. They're not doing anything to make too many long-term commitments. Dan Moore was a big commitment, but other than that, Cody Barton,

two-year deal, low money. Now Xavier Woods, two-year deal, $5 million a year. Like the Titans are just like, we're punting on this year. We're not signing anything other than an average starting on the million a year. Like the Titans are just like, we're punting on this year. We're not signing anything other than an average starting offensive tackle. And other than that, we're not doing anything of no whatsoever. We're just filling holes as best we can for right now. The Titans are just accepting where they're at. They're eating their vegetables. They're taking their medicine.

They're not trying to improve the roster. They're just trying to fill holes for the time being with veteran players who are going to be out there on the field because they're durable. Even if they're not the most talented players in the world, they're not high-end starters. They're not pro bowl or all pro level players. The Titans aren't trying to get great right now. They're just filling spots and taking their medicine with solid, durable

veterans, and they're probably going to do the same thing at guard because Will Freeze, the top guard on the market, went off the board on Tuesday as well. Five years, $88 million. Okay. For that price, I don't care that the Tennessee Titans weren't interested in Will Fries. The Titans weren't even one of the top five teams that were going after him. And for that money, five years, $88 million for a guard, especially a guard coming off a broken leg. No way I was doing that. So what are the Titans do

at guard now? Tevin Jenkins is a young player who's probably the next highest ranked free agent available, but Kevin Jenkins has been moved around a ton of his career. He's had some injury issues. He's had some performance issues and he's going to be the highest paid guard left on the market. I'm not interested in that. Kevin Zeitler, 35 years old. Okay. I guess you could do that. Similar vein, Brandon Scherff. If you're going to go out and get an older veteran, I would rather go with Brandon Scherff who's 33 years old as opposed to Kevin Zeitler, who's 35 years old.

So Brandon Scherff to me, if they want to go with a spot filler like they have with safety and linebacker and they just want to plug in a veteran who's going to be out there, then go with Brandinshire. Whatever, you know, McKay Bekton would be a high upside pick, but listen guys, I know that some of you want McKay Bekton and if you do more power to you, but I think the reality here is McKay Bekton is a guy who maybe isn't the hardest worker and maybe benefits from having a strong locker room culture and benefits from having strong leadership and the Titans are trying to build their culture

right now. They don't have a strong culture like the Eagles did last year. I don't think a guy like Mackay Beckton without that strong locker room, I don't think he would be a good fit and he's going to be more expensive than a guy like Brandon Scherf or a guy like Dalton Reznor or a guy like bringing back Dylan Radens. You know, like I don't see that as a bad option at this point. The reality is you have a big contract at center. Now you have a big contract at left tackle.

You have a first round pick at left guard. You have a first round pick at right tackle at some point throughout those five offensive line positions, you've got to find some value and go with a less expensive option. And I think Dylan Radens as a spot filler at guard, bringing him back would make a ton of sense. But again, Brandon Scherff, the 33 year old veteran would be a nice spot filler as well.

But right now the way it looks it's cam ward or the tank is on for the Tennessee Titans. Today's episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Taking care of your mental health can feel like a big investment, but it's just as important as taking care of your body. Traditional in-person therapy can cost anywhere from $100 to $250 per session, but with BetterHelp, you could save up to 50% per session. BetterHelp offers a flat fee for weekly online therapy sessions, making professional support more accessible and affordable with over 30,000 therapists and over 5 million people help. It's the world's largest online therapy platform. I've worked with BetterHelp before. It was a great experience.

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That's betterhelp, H-E-L- L P.com slash locked on. Titans fans. Let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. The Tennessee Titans signed Xavier Woods at safety after missing out on Javon Holland and seeing Javon Holland go to the New York Giants. The Titans also didn't sign one of the top of the market guards and Will Freeze, but I think that's a smart decision based on Pang Danmore. Now the question becomes, what are the Titans going to do at quarterback?

Like, what is going on going to do at quarterback? Like what is going on at quarterback and what's going on at wide receiver and what's going on at edge? The three biggest needs for the Tennessee Titans outside of offensive tackle linebacker and safety still have not been addressed in any way. And obviously we start with quarterback. And at the end of today's show, the Titans got rid of Ryan Stonehouse. They got rid of NWI. They got rid of Jack Gibbons.

It's a brand new era for the Tennessee Titans. So I'm going to go over those departures, but looking at quarterback, Daniel Jones goes to the Indianapolis Colts and we're getting reports that the Minnesota Vikings are not interested in a veteran quarterback anymore. They don't want Russell Wilson. They don't want Aaron Rodgers. So that means that one of Aaron Rodgers and one of Russell Wilson is going to go to the

Pittsburgh Steelers. And then the other one is likely going to go to the New York Giants, which leaves the Tennessee Titans who only have been reported interested in Mac Jones and Zach Wilson and Zach Wilson went to the Miami dolphins. So the only reported intro and Paul Kowarski reported that the Tennessee Titans are not interested in Aaron Rogers and Russell Wilson. That's completely false. That's not happening.

The Titans are not interested in those guys. So the only quarterback that the Titans have been reportedly interested in that remains is Mack Jones. And I have said all along that if the Titans bring in Mack Jones, I don't think that they're drafting Cam Ward. I think it would be Will Levis and Mack Jones competing for the starting quarterback job. I think that would be a bad sign.

If you want Cam Ward, I wanted the Titans to go out and get a Jacobi Brassett to go out and get a Jamis Winston, potentially a Joe Flacco, somebody who's an older quarterback who could teach cam ward the ropes because Mike Borganzi literally said at the senior bowl, that if they got a rookie quarterback, they would want an older veteran quarterback to be able to mentor and teach that rookie how to watch film, how to prepare, how to operate and practice. Well, if you go out and get Mac Jones, that's the opposite of what you said

that you wanted if you had a rookie quarterback. So that would lead me to believe that you're going with Mac Jones and Will Levis at quarterback. Now, Jacoby Bressette signed, I think he went to the Arizona Cardinals, Jacoby Brissette to the Arizona Cardinals. So that means one less option down. What the Titans do at quarterback in the next few days, I think will absolutely inform us as to what they're going to do in the NFL draft. And quite frankly, it's cam warder tank in my mind if the titans go with mac jones or will levis at quarterback then okay maybe they're not tanking but they

certainly aren't going out all out to win games which they are truly taking their medicine, eating their vegetables, taking a step back, blowing it up, rebuilding, like signing a bunch of veterans for $5 million to just fill a spot with durability, even though they're not high level players, they're low end starters. And then getting the exact same thing at quarterback with Mac Jones and letting them compete with Will Levis. Like that is if that isn't tanking, that's as close to tanking as it gets folks. They're not actively being as aggressive as they could be to make the team better. And I'm not asking for a free agency like last year's. Like

that's not what I'm asking for here. I'm perfectly fine with the Cody Barton move. I'm fine with the Xavier Woods move, although I want to draw on Holland. That's a fine pivot with me. But if that's what your free agency looks like, and you're just filling in spots with cheap veterans everywhere. You can't expect the team to get much better. And especially if they don't get any better at quarterback. And then you look at wide receiver.

If they get cam ward, who is even going to be able to throw to, they're not going to be able to trade down with the number one overall pick if they get cam ward. So it's not like they're going to be able to have multiple top 100 selections from a trade down. They're going to have pick number 35 and then nothing else until one Oh three, one Oh three. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like at that point, they have to consider Cooper Cup. Amari Cooper, Stefan Diggs, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams. Like at some point, you just have to put some competency out on the field. If you expect anybody to succeed, NWII we're going to talk about here in a second. He went to Miami. So right now the Titans have Traylon Burks and Calvin Ridley and Bryce Oliver and Jaquan Jackson.

Those are the Titans wide receivers right now. Cam Ward is going to die if that's who he has to throw to. Matt Jones and Will Levis are certainly not going to succeed in that environment. So what are you expecting? So again, for me, I wanted like Ola made a Zikaus, Rondale, Moore, Elijah Moore, Greg Dorch, somebody in that realm, but with not bringing NWI back and if you have to take Cam Ward because you don't have a quarterback, well, then you don't have the option to do that anymore. You need to bump that up. You need a real player.

I think Cooper Cup would be the best fit. I would like Amare Cooper as well. That would be great. Keenan Allen, Stefan Diggs, Mike Williams. I'd take any of those guys at that point, but that's where the Titans are at right now with wide receiver. They are going to have one of the worst wide receiver groups in the entire NFL and there's really not much they can do about it. No matter where they go from here, it's going to be bad. And then you go to the edge market, which is the other monster need for the Tennessee

Titans. The second most important position in football is pass rushing. There's nobody left. There's nobody left. Aziz Ojalary hasn't even played 500 snaps in a season before. He's a cleanup sack artist. The Titans could use him in the aggregate like, Hey, we're trying to money ball Harold Landry.

We'll get Aziz Ojalary. He does cleanup sacks just like Landry does. We'll get Charles Amenahue. He provides versatility from the B gap to the edge. Maybe if Dennis Gardek, who's 30 years old is healthy off an ACL tear, you bring him in for three and a half million dollars. Josh Uchi. He could be a guy. He's only 26 years old. Maybe you bring him in, but those a half million dollars. Josh Uchi, he could be a guy, he's only

26 years old, maybe you bring him in, but those are your best options on the edge. Zedarius Smith, another name, maybe you bring in 31 year old Zedarius Smith just to have somebody to fill the spot for a year because this roster is terrible and there's nothing you can do, but at the end of the day you look at the quarterback situation, look at the wide receiver market you look at the edge market there's no way that the Tennessee Titans and they still need a guard there's no way that the Tennessee Titans are filling all these spots with improvements on last year there's no way there's no way so Again It's cam ward

Or the titans are clearly clearly punting on 2025 and look them absolutely doing a mass exodus on any holdover from the mike brable era Kind of tells us a lot. Do you want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. March Madness is here and FanDuel is giving you the chance to get in on the action like never before. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. That's 200 extra bucks to use on everything from buzzer beaters to Cinderella stories.

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Titans fans. Let's cap off today's edition of the locked on Titans podcast. Recap and day two of free agency for the Tennessee Titans. It was a slow start for the Titans. They didn't do much at the beginning of the day. And then later in the afternoon, the news started flowing. We talked about signing Xavier woods at safety guard edge quarterback, wide receiver still needing a ton of attention and there's really not a lot of good options out there which leads me to believe it's Cam Ward or the Titans are tanking but the Titans let a lot of players go on Tuesday and they also replaced one of them and we start with Ryan Stonehouse the Tennessee Titans punter who a lot of us had high hopes that he would

be one of the best punters in the entire NFL. But the reality is after the injury, Ryan Stonehouse was not a great player. And even his second year, the year he got injured, Ryan Stonehouse took a step back from his rookie year. He's a guy who has tremendous power. He can bomb the ball all the way down the field, but he didn't have great control for directional punting. And a lot of the Tennessee Titans coverage problems and punt return, or punt coverage last year, was because Ryan Stonehouse out-kicked the coverage.

He would kick it too far and too straight of a line drive. He couldn't loft it up and get air time, a hang time on it to allow the coverage unit to get down there. And then the returner would have a running start with a lot of space. So it's not all on Ryan Stonehouse, but Ryan Stonehouse's skillset did have a lot to do with the Titan struggles in punt coverage last year. So the Titans move on. The Titans would have had to tender Ryan

Stonehouse as a restricted free agent. It would have been about $3.25 million. The Titans said, no, we're not doing that. And in lieu of Ryan Stonehouse, the Titans go out and sign a former multi-time all-pro punter in Johnny Hecker. Hecker has worked with new special teams coach, John Fossil before Hecker again, multi-time All-Pro. He is the total opposite of Ryan Stonehouse. Stonehouse has a monster leg, these big booming punts. Johnny Hecker is not a cannon for a leg. He is one of the worst punters in the NFL in total distance. But he's one of the best punters in the NFL in pinning teams back, in downed punts, in touchbacks.

So he kicks the ball high, he lets the coverage unit get to it and prevent big returns, which is what the Tennessee Titans desperately need. So although Ryan Stonehouse is a good punter, I love that the Tennessee Titans made this change because Johnny Hecker is a better punter with directional punting with hang time. That's more conducive to better coverage units. At the end of the day, John bones fossil, the Titans new special teams coach is one of the best special teams coaches of my lifetime.

And this is something that he wanted to do. I'm fully on board with it. And the Titans paid Johnny Hecker less than they would have paid Ryan Stonehouse if they tendered him. So in my opinion, they got a better punter for cheaper great move by the Tennessee Titans there, but they also let Nick Westbrook of Keeney go and NWI got three million bucks a year to go to the Miami Dolphins a Couple of things that I got a breakdown here. Some Titans fans are going

Wait, why would the Titans let NWI leave? He scored nine touchdowns last year. Well guys, last year NWI went into free agency and had no suitors whatsoever and came back to the Titans on a veteran minimum. Nick Westbrook-Akine scoring nine touchdowns was a fluke. He's not that good of a player. It was a fluke the way that it turned out and the rest of the NFL and the Titans aren't going to be fooled by those nine touchdowns. And to think in the NWI is anything more than a wide receiver for wide receiver five.

He's not a starting level receiver. He's not a top three receiver and he got paid three million dollars a year, which is just a little bit over his veteran minimum. Because NFL teams aren't fooled by the nine touchdowns and you may be a Titans fan that loves NWI. He's a fan favorite and all that. He just doesn't have that much value around the NFL, no matter how much you like it. And I don't really care that the Tennessee Titans let him go. I wanted them to bring him back. But at the end of the day, NWI is in a difference maker.

He's just depth. The Titans could have used that depth, but I'm not going to be mad that they let him go like, Oh yeah, they could have used him, but it's not a big game changer when it comes to what the season is going to be for the Titans. And then also the Titans are not tendering restricted free agent, Jack Gibbons, Dr. Gibby, then to Gib. Everybody's joking that he's going to go to the New England Patriots right away, which is hilarious and probably true.

But at the end of the day, they replaced Jack Gibbons with Cody Barton. You got Kenneth Murray and Cody Barton next to each other. That's what you have. So there's no need for Jack Gibbons. You have James Williams and Cedric Gray behind them. Draft another linebacker and there you go. Luke Gifford. He's gone as well.

And I just want to point out the pattern of these are Mike Vrabel era players Stonehouse NWI Gibbons like those are all Mike Vrabel guys who were brought in under Mike Vrabel. So it makes sense that the Titans are just like, we want a brand new culture. None of these holdovers, none of these below average depth players. We were, we're done with that. We're done. We need to get a whole new culture in here. Whole new, even if it's a lateral move, like even if they bring in a wide

receiver, that's equal to NWI. We just need new blood in the building. That's what it seems like they're doing in my opinion. But again, big miss on Javon Holland, but they pivot to Xavier woods. That's fine with me. The Titans are clearly just trying to fill holes. It's obvious that they're not trying to go all out to compete this year. And right now, if they don't get cam ward, this team is going to be one

of the worst teams in the NFL once again Maybe that's by design and we'll know whether they signed Mac Jones or they get somebody who can actually be a mentor to cam ward in the draft, but After yesterday I was pretty convinced that they were going cam ward after what I saw today I feel pretty convinced that they're gonna trade down. So things are changing by the minute, folks. I'm going to be back with you tomorrow to break down any more news. I don't know how much more the Tennessee Titans are going to do in the first wave of free agency this week. We'll probably see them add some value veterans throughout the next few weeks, names that don't really get you very excited. But again, just fill a spot in a season where the Tennessee Titans know they're not going

to be very good. But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans.