Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Cut Candidates: Taylor Lewan, Zach Cunningham & More w/ Will Lomas

Episode Date: February 17, 2022

The Tennessee Titans have some tough decisions to make this offseason including which players currently under contract need to be cut to clear out salary cap space. Some big names have been floating around as options like Taylor Lewan, Rodger Saffold and Zach Cunningham. Tyler invites fellow Titans talking head Will Lomas on the show to go over a recent article Will wrote about those options. Should the Titans make these cuts? What would they do about those positions after the cut? How much cap space can the Titans create with the moves? All of that answered and discussed in detail!!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline..net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And on today's show, we are going to look at some potential cut candidates for the Tennessee Titans. We have six names that if they were cut, the Tennessee Titans could carve out some significant cap space. I'm going to have a special guest on to help me break down all of these cap decisions. It will be Will Lomas. Very excited to bring him on.

So let's dive into some cut candidates on a Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Titans fans, it is a Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, been a Tennessee Titans fan over 20 years. Focus on the X's and O's here on the Locked on Titans podcast, while also make sure to break down all the news and notes coming out of Nashville.

Thank you very much for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen. Every day, if this is your first ever listen to the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. You can find the Locked on Titans podcast everywhere and always free. That includes the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe over there. Smash that notification bell so you know when all of my content goes live. Check me out on social media at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter at Locked on Titans pod on Facebook.

But for today's show, we are going to dive into an incredibly important all season topic and that is the cuts that the Titans will inevitably have to make to have as much cap space as they need to kind of reform the roster as they do year to year to help us do that. the roster as they do year to year to help us do that. We have the esteemed Will Lomas back on the show. I've had him on before to talk different topics. He's one of the better Titans content creators out there writing articles on fan-sided for the Titan-sized page. Has his podcast with Luke Warsham and those folks, the No Nonsense Pod.

So check out his content as well. But he put out a very good article recently on Titan size, going over six Tennessee Titans that could see the axe for salary cap reasons. And I brought Will on so that we can kind of just go through these different candidates and see what we could do if the Titans do cut them, what options they have to replace them in the lineup, all those different conversations. So first and foremost, Will, thanks for coming on. And how are you doing this evening? Yeah, I'm great. I'm glad to be on. So you said esteemed earlier, which seems like high praise. I'm just glad I did well enough to get invited back.

Yeah, most certainly that. Most certainly that. But, you know, one of the big reasons, obviously, the big reason I had you on is because you wrote this excellent article going over who I think are the obvious six candidates that could be cut for the Titans. And we're going to dive into two, starting off here, the conversation and two names that are not only the biggest names that are on the chopping block, but they also have the biggest salaries and the biggest ability to create cap space for the Titans.

And they're both on the left side of the offensive line. We have left tackle Taylor LeJuan and left guard Roger Saffold. So diving into Taylor LeJuan first. So you look at Taylor LeJuan, if the Titans decide to part ways with Taylor LeJuan and they decide to cut Taylor LeJuan, they're going to find themselves with 12.9, so nearly $13 million of extra cap space. I know a lot of people were kind of upset with the way that Taylor LeJuan played at times last year. He was coming off the ACL. Where do you stand?

And if you were running the Titans, Will, since you did write this excellent article, what would you do with Taylor LeJuan? Would you cut him and save that space? Or do you think that you would keep him on board? Because as you pointed out in your article, he'd be about the 14th highest paid offensive tackle or left tackle in the NFL,

which seems about right for where his skill level is at this time. Yeah, that's the question, right? So with LeJuan, everybody screams about him being overpaid, and they have since he signed his deal, whether it's right or wrong, even when he was playing well and he was a pro-ball player. I think it's wrong, personally. He's properly paid. Yeah, when he was a pro- pro bowl tackle people were still complaining and saying that he was the highest paid offensive tackle when that wasn't true like people have this perception that because he got such a big deal and because the titans weren't signing those big deals at the time that he's got this absorbent fee that just doesn't make any sense and he's making

what 14 million and like only like 1.3 of that's guaranteed. And so, I mean, he's got a really manageable, nice mid-level contract. Like this is, this is what, these are the years where you should be able to enjoy the contract because you pay over market value early so that you don't have too late. The problem is like everybody, right or wrong, like you said, I think wrong too. Everybody blames five sacks on, uh, from the Cardinals, which he only allowed two, but they all blame that on him. Anytime there's pass protection, they just point out the high-paid left tackle when it's generally not his fault.

And so you get all this blame because he's so vocal and he's such a big presence that everybody wants to talk about his podcast all that stuff at the end of the day paying him like the 14th highest paid left tackle is good like in a vacuum if they didn't need money that's a good deal the problem is you've got dylan radin sitting on the bench it you saw him in one game with no preparation against one of the best pass rushers in the league, and he shut him out so much. Not that he was perfect, obviously. We've talked about that before, but he did an effective enough job, especially compared to the rest of the offensive

tackles in the NFL, to where he moved to the other side because it was easier to play against Weston Berry than it was against Radins. So you have positive information there. You knew that Radins was going to need a year of development in a non-FCS weightlifting program just to compete at this level. He's widely regarded as one of the hardest working offensive linemen, if not players on the team. He gets rave reviews from everybody in that category. So you've got a guy who he's played left tackle his entire career. That's what he did in college. Uh, I like he's done, he's done that forever. He did it is one start in the NFL. He looked good there. Do you want to go ahead and move him to the right side and mess up what little continuity you have with him, even though you've played him at guard spots like just for no reason the whole time so to me if there wasn't a

ready-made player you know until in Dylan Radins right behind him who I think can do what LeJuan did last year then no you don't cut LeJuan but man like he's going to be 31 he's you know again this next year should be his best year like I mean year. He should be fully recovered from the ACL injury. He should be motivated, all that kind of stuff. And that's great. He's a right tackle. I have no qualms with it. The problem is, man, if you had $13 million,

and we'll talk about some more cuts they can make later, but if you cut $13 million, and we'll talk about some more cuts they can make later, but if you cut him and somebody else, and you have $20 million sitting on your books, and you can just go sign Allen Robinson to be the wide receiver two on this offense, or if you can sign Michael Gallup or one of those other really talented wide receivers, it would make life so much easier in the draft where you weren't pigeonholed into a certain position. So I still would not, but I'm having a harder and harder time faulting the front office if they do. Yeah, I understand that. And I'll kind of piggyback off that and tell you why I think they can't. I think a restructure could be on the table for Taylor one. Obviously that's a possibility, but I just don't think that you can go into next year with two brand new

tackles. John Robinson has talked about how important offensive tackle is in his system. And while I understand that Taylor one is getting, uh, you know, paid a good, they could save a good chunk of money is basically the whole point here.

To me, you can't go in with two brand new tackles next year in the last year of the window with this core. You wait one year and then there's no dead money. If you cut Taylor LeJuan, you get two years for Dylan Radins to kind of get ready to go. I can see sliding Radins in at right tackle, then moving him over to left tackle in 2023's season.

I think I would do that. And also, like you mentioned, coming off the ACL, it's pretty much proven that guys play much better the second year after that ACL happened. You know, LeJuan just had that first year coming back, and he was clearly physically not ready to go in that game one and at the beginning of the season. So for me, I just think it's too much upheaval because I do expect them to cut the next guy we're going to talk about, which is guard

Roger Saffold. Saffold struggled throughout the year with injury and neck injury, upper body injury for an offensive line with all the punch in and everything that's required from your upper body when blocking. I think that's pretty tough to come back from. Even when Saffold was out there, he struggled at times, especially in pass protection this year. And I think when you have Aaron Brewer, you have Dylan Radins. John Robinson has shown that he can find interior offensive linemen. It's one of his sweet spots where he finds some good guys. I just don't think that when you cut Roger Saffold,

probably not going to have Questenberry starting at right tackle. You can't also double down on that and not have Taylor LeJuan at left tackle while also having Ben Jones going into free agency. I get the offensive line needs to be remade in a way, but I think that's a little bit too much. So I would try to restructure LeJuan or at minimum, just keep him around because like you said, he's like the 14th highest paid left tackle. And for his skill, I think that's fair. That's what you're going to pay for a left tackle. And I would worry that if they cut LeJuan and Saffold, they would have to go into free agency at that point

to fill one of those spots and get a veteran. And I just don't think that I want to see them go there. So with Saffold, I think that's an easy cut. It would save the Titans $10.4 million on the cap. They could slide in Aaron Bre cap. They could slide in Aaron Brewer. They could slide in Dylan Radins, although I don't think that Radins is a guard. I think we're in decent agreement there. So I guess with me saying what I would do with Roger Saffold and my reasoning, do you agree with that or what are your thoughts there? So I think, yeah, I think you're dead on about Saffold. So my only concern is assuming you cut Saffold,

you're going to be starting Brewer there unless something crazy happens and they say, no, we want you at center and we're going to draft a guard or they draft Zion Johnson and just say, okay, we're going to figure out which one of you plays where. But assuming that it's going to be Brewer, I mean, they're going to have to get that offensive line continuity and chemistry all over again anyway. And then you go into 2023,

and you're going to have to do it again if LeJuan's not your answer at left tackle. So to me, I almost view this as Saffold's gone either way, but if they decide not to re-sign Ben Jones, which depends on what he's going to want because they love him there, but if they decide we just can't afford you, you're going to get a one-year $12 million deal somewhere, whatever, then just rip the Band-Aid off.

Questenberry is a restricted free agent. Let him go. Cut LeJuan. Cut Saffold. Just remake your entire offensive line. And you don't have to do exactly what the Chiefs did, but they had a vision for what they wanted their offensive line to be. Don't say, okay, well, we're not going to run as much zone scheme stuff,

but I still want to keep our zone scheme tackle and our zone scheme guard, and we're going to play some gap scheme center and a gap scheme right tackle. It's like if you're going to rip some gap scheme center and a gap scheme, right? Tackle. It's like, no, it's like if you're going to rip that bandaid off and you know, whether it's Kelly's vision or Downing's or just Robinson saying, these are the best options we have make this work, whatever it is. Like if you're going to replace four starters, you can remake your offensive line with an identity that you want and you don't have to kind of piecemeal it together.

So Saffold, I think, is gone for sure. But just the long-term vision of the offensive line will have to deal with, like, really Ben Jones feels like the swing guy. Like, if he's not coming back, you're losing continuity so many places. Yes, I agree with you there, Ben Jones. If they bring Ben Jones back,

then I think that, yes, try to keep it together and just piece in certain spots, like right tackle and left guard. But you're right, if Ben Jones back, then I think that, yes, try to keep it together and just piece in certain spots like right tackle and left guard. But you're right, if Ben Jones goes elsewhere, then maybe it is time to completely overhaul it in a serious way, including cutting Taylor LeJuan and Roger Saffold and letting Questenberry go. But we're going to move forward to some other names. There are some names on the defensive side of the ball

that could definitely create some good cap space for the Tennessee Titans. Before we get into that, I do want to tell you guys about BetOnline.net. Football season might be over, but basketball season is in full swing, both pro and college. The March Madness tournament is right around the corner. And boy, I cannot wait for all the latest odds, totals, player performance props, where the next fired head coach is going to land. BetOnline.net is your number one spot for all your sports betting needs.

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cut candidates for the Tennessee Titans. Players who, while they play well and serve their role, cutting them could create a significant amount of cap space for the Titans as they try to rework the roster. We just talked about two big candidates on the offensive line with Taylor LeJuan and Roger Sappel. Now I want to talk about some guys on the defensive side of the ball. We are going to start with someone who was newly acquired with the Titans later of the ball. And we are going to start with someone who was newly acquired

with the Titans later in the season, and it is inside linebacker Zach Cunningham. So, Will, if the Titans cut Cunningham, they'll get $10.4 million in cap relief because he has no guaranteed money on his deal. But Rashawn Evans and Jayon Brown are most likely out of the door, so that's putting a lot of pressure on Monty Rice or a lot of pressure to draft somebody who will be ready to help.

And maybe all those stupid mock drafts that give a linebacker to the Titans at 26, maybe they'll be right if that happens. But what would you do with Cunningham right now? I mean, I think the easy answer and the right answer is just tear up the deal he has and figure out a new one. Like he's got he's on a three year deal. That's I think it's like 13 million AAV over the next three. And it's all non guaranteed. So it's like it doesn't make sense for him to play if he's injured.

And, you know, it completely he has no money in his pocket and he has to prove he can play again on another team. There's no insurance there for you. It doesn't make sense for the Titans to carry a $10.4 million cap hit when they could very easily rework it. I don't know if they make it a deal with four years or whatever they want to do, but they don't they don't like playing, paying linebackers. I mean, right, wrong or whatever. No.

Yeah. It's like, you know, you don't pay linebackers. You don't pay guards. Historically, you don't pay tight ends. Like, you know, you just, you don't, if you have another option. So I get why he, I mean, because Cunningham looked worth it. Like I should say that like Cunningham was a good linebacker, like, and he fit and he,

he looked everything that we thought he was going to be when he came in. And you could, from day one, you could see the difference between him and Rashawn Evans and John Brown. And when Cunningham and long were out there, the defense was outstanding. Like, I mean, they were a great unit. There's no reason to break that up if you don't have to. But again, like Cunningham was not a part of the vision coming into the season. Like there's no way that they thought, well, we've got this linebacker position locked up because, you know, we're going to keep Cunningham in August.

Like they didn't have him. So he was not part of the plan going forward. They have to have assumed that they were going to need linebacker. It's just, do they need a $10.4 million linebacker? And I think the easy thing is, you know, re-sign them to a deal,

stretch it out, give them guaranteed money and spike him up later when you get all the free money in. But I mean, don't, you can't pay him 10.4 million. I mean, just like with Julio,

like Julio last year had, had this contract that got reworked and moved around and whatever. It's like rework it however you want to and push that. Cause Cunningham's young, right? Isn't he like 27 or something like that? Yes. Yes. I don't think he's very, so, so you can stretch that out and it's not like you're paying a 35 year old, you know, running back.

Like, I mean, at 30, there's plenty of linebackers at 30 who are playing well. So stretch it out how you need to, you know, make the cat pit as low as you can and then use that extra money. But I mean, I would like to see him on the team next year, but again, like 10.4 is just too high. Yeah. You can't pay that, especially when you have David Long, who's still on a rookie deal, but here's, here's the thing that's sticking in my mind. I don't think the Titans can go into next year with David Long and Monty Rice as their starting inside linebackers. I don't think Rice is ready. And that's concerning to me. So I think there are two paths here. I think the one that you just discussed, you can restructure Zach Cunningham's deal, bring his cap hit down to about $4 million.

Still save yourself about $6 million in terms of the cap hit while moving some of that money. And that helps Cunningham too because then he gets some guaranteed money right now that he knows that he has. I'm sure he doesn't like, as you pointed out, not having any guaranteed money on his deal. It's something you mentioned in the article.

So for me, I think the obvious move is to, like you said, restructure his deal since you do have him under contract right now. Get that cap hit down to below $5 million. Push some money out for when that cap spikes back up. And then you got Cunningham, you got David Long, you got Monty Rice who you can groom for another season and get ready to go for when you inevitably do have to let go of Zach Cunningham but the other option that I want to throw on the table and just get a quick thought from you on it what if you know the Titans do bring back David Long they have Monty Rice in

the fold to be an early down run specialist to go with David Long but what if I don't think that Jayon Brown earned himself the contract that he was hoping to get on the one year uh deal that he did with the Titans. What, what if Jay on Brown was brought back for a similar price, $3 million, something like that. And then you had him to go with David Long as depth, but also that, that third down passing specialist that he kind of settled into. Do you, which option do you think you'd rather go with basically like Jay on Brown for 3

million with Monty Rice and David Long or a Zach Cunningham restructure with Zach Cunningham, David Long, and Monte Rice? If you're asking what I'd like, I would rather not have Jayon Brown just because we watched. There were several times where everybody called him the best pass coverage linebacker that they had, and he just wasn't doing it. He got smoked by Mark Ingram in man coverage against the center. And I can't forget that. Yeah, I can't either.

And it's like, yeah, Mark Ingram. If it was somebody else, I get it. It's like if you get burned by Eckler or Taylor or whatever, it's a cool, you shouldn't have won that matchup anyway. But, I mean, he just doesn't look like the same guy after he got injured a couple of years ago. Ideally, so my plan would be rest you know, restructure Cunningham, figure that out, even if you have to keep him at $5 million or whatever and you only get $5 million out of it, cool.

But if you're telling me it's either Jayon Brown or you try to draft somebody, I would almost rather them just bring back Crookshank and just say, like, okay, your entire role is – You're that Jayon Brown role. Yeah. Like what does Cruikshank not do? You know, where is the difference in what you're using Jayon Brown and Cruikshank for?

And Cruikshank has looked better. So it's like you get the versatility of Cruikshank and then you spend a fourth-round comp pick on a linebacker. So you do what Robinson has done for the past five years, find a day three linebacker who can play, who's just really athletic and undersized. And then in three years, everybody's like, wow, that guy's really good. Like, I mean, that's just what you do.

And you wait until that guy develops in 2022 or whatever. But in the meantime, you just make it, you know, piecemeal with one of your safeties that can cover. But yeah, like Cunningham is the easy option, but I just, the meantime you just make it you know piecemeal with one of your safeties that can cover but yeah like Cunningham is the easy option but I just I I'm so worried that John Brown is his best days are clearly behind him and he just can't stay healthy and I'm just like I don't want to get invested in that and then have to deal with that all over again because you have to remember once a guy starts for Vrabel he has to get injured before he gets taken out of the lineup.

Like there's almost like, I mean, we saw it with Jonathan Joe's, like, we, I mean, we we've seen it. Like once you're in, you're in, and then like you have to be dragged off the field before you get replaced. So you have to be careful what you wish for, because last year, David Long got injured, I think before the first game of the season. And it took him forever until he could get real reps with the first team. We saw it in preseason. He was clearly the best guy. I would rather just push that on, bring in a rookie that you know Vrabel won't play, so he's forced to play the right guys, and then go from there.

Right. This is one of those things. This isn't a Vrabel podcast, but I do want to mention, all of my gripes about Mike Vrabel come back to the fact that he is a former player. And I think some of that loyalty to those players, like he is thinking like a player, I don't deserve to lose my spot because of, you know, anything other than an injury. I'm keeping that guy out there. If I trust him, he's a veteran, he's the guy, blah, blah, blah. It's that, you know, I'm not taking that guy out of there. I'm giving him a shot. He'll rebound. He'll get better because he's thinking like a player. Like when I had a bad game as Mike Vrabel as a player, oh, I'll get better the next

game. I don't deserve to lose my spot yet, blah, blah, blah. So that's just one of my gripes. But moving forward, I'm trying to do the player that has some more discussion around him first, but we'll get into a player. I think we're both going to agree pretty quickly here on what to do, and it's Jackrabbit Jenkins. I want to go to a comment that John Robinson had earlier in the offseason where he said, we expect Caleb Farley to play a big role for us. Maybe not those exact words, but basically that's what he said. I think when he said that, it was obvious to me that Jack Rabbit is gone.

So Jack Rabbit Jenkins cap hit around 10 million, dead cap around 3 million. So if the Titans were to cut bait, they're going to save about $7 million on the cap. You pointed out in an article, great note, that that's about the franchise tag cost for a tight end. So the Titans could get a good tight end. Think somebody like a Dalton Schultz would be available. Maybe if Gronkowski wants to come back and play for a guy like Vrabel. I don't think that they ever played together, Gronkowski and Vrabel. Did they overlap some? I didn't think so. But Gronk could just call up his buddy Tommy and ask, how's it like to play for Vrabel? And that's a team that I think could make sense for Gronk if he wants to keep playing.

So the Titans could go with like a $7 or $8 million tight end with that money. For me, it's pretty simple. You cut Jack Rabbit. You draft a cornerback in the draft. You hope that Farley turns into what he is expected to be because he needs to be. If the Titans want this to go well, are you cutting Jack Rabbit? Is it that simple for you?

Are you considering maybe keeping him around? No. I mean, like, Jack Rabbit did great. Like, cool, you know, you earned your name in the second half of the season. Like, that – Okay, cool. The structure the whole time was this was a void year with a team option. They just called it something different.

Like, he got his guaranteed money, but the plan the whole time was you're the placeholder until we can get Farley up to speed and see how his injury is. And you know, the Titans have a pretty good blueprint of, we took an injured rookie and turned him into a superstar in year two. And cause that's what they did with Fulton. So you put him on that track and you say, you know,

if we have to, we'll use Chris Jackson or something, you know, we'll, we'll bring in somebody else or whatever. I, I, yeah. But like you, you know, if we have to, we'll use Chris Jackson or something, you know, we'll, we'll bring in somebody else or whatever. I, I, yeah. But like you, you basically say like, we're going to make it Farley's job to lose so that we don't, again, I'm thinking about this from the variable or from the Robinson standpoint of like, I need to put him in a position where he's going to play Caleb Farley because Farley needs reps more than anything. So it's like

putting him, you know, getting him 12 reps in a preseason game is not helping him. Like, I mean, he needs to get like full reps and play. Yes. And so, you know, cause we saw that we saw him do that with Fulton, like Fulton got those kinds of like Fulton, but you know, the big point is he's going to develop, he should be healthier. He'll be, you know, be in that ACL, like that dead spot where you're not all the way back. And you have to hope he has enough athleticism to make up for it.

But the athleticism was never the question. It's the technique and cleaning that stuff up. And I think they can – Because he was a wide receiver. You know what I mean? He was a wide receiver. Yeah. And then really good at playing the ball in the air.

Like, he's long. Like, he can make plays in college, but he just didn't have that soundness that he needed. But I think that the Titans PR team is very organized. Like, I think they understand how to tweet things out and whatever. And one of the things they tweeted out from the Super Bowl was Jim White talking to, I think it was D'Angelo Hall, like about Farley and how he is elite traits and all this stuff. And it's like, I mean, there wasn't a lot of talk about almost any other player. I mean,

there was some Derrick Henry stuff, all that, but it's like, it was mainly like that, you know, Derrick Henry, Derrick Henry, Derrick Henry, then this one Caleb Farley clip that they had, and then keep going. And to me, that's like, okay, you know, that plus the comments is they want him to start next year. They want it to be the young, cheap group of Fulton, Farley, and Molden. And then they want to go from there. Yep. And I think that's the right move.

And I think, you know, they're going to get a Jackrabbit type, maybe for a little bit less money. They will have one veteran free agent, I believe for $4 million or less that they're going to get a Jackrabbit type, maybe for a little bit less money. They will have one veteran free agent, I believe, for $4 million or less that they're going to bring onto the team just to not have only, you know, those players in there to have a veteran to rely on. But I think that, yes, John Robinson has to do something to force Mike Rabel basically to put Caleb Farley out there and make that draft pick worth it. But I agree with you there.

Cutting Jenkins, trying to restructure Zach Cunningham to bring the cap hit down, but trying to keep him on the team. We are going to talk about two guys who are going to give the Titans a little bit less cap space if they are cut. But one of the players that we're going to talk about to cap off today's show has sentimental value in the hearts of most Titans fans. So we'll get into that in just a moment. All right, Titans fans, we are going to cap off this Thursday edition

of the Locked on Titans podcast. We have Will Lomas here with us going over six cut candidates for the Titans as they try to carve out cap space heading into the 2022 offseason. Will wrote a really awesome article on Titan size going over these six candidates. We talked about Taylor LeJuan, Roger Saffold to start the show. Just finished discussing Jack Rabbit, Jenkins, and Zach Cunningham. Now, we're going to get into some guys who have a little bit less cap savings on the table for the Titans, but probably still should be cut anyways.

The first name that we are going to get into, as I kind of teased at the end of last segment, is a guy with some sentimental value to the Tennessee Titans, and it is punter Brett Kern, as I have called him the last three years, the weapon. Brett Kern is getting paid as one of the best punters in the NFL, about $3.2 million. So if the Titans were to cut bait, they could save that money.

Will, I think a restructure could be on the table for Kern, but you pointed out some good stats in your article that kind of show, yeah, maybe it is time to move on. Yeah, he's paid like the third highest punter, in your article that kind of show, yeah, maybe it is time to move on. Yeah. He's paid like the third highest punter and he's had, I think, five straight years of his punt averages going down. Like, I mean, like if that's not a decline, I don't know what is. And he's been injured more the last two years and he's 35, I think.

Like it's like, it's like, I get punters last forever. And I get that Kern and, and LaJuan really are the guys who are the holdovers from when the Titans were bad. Like it's like, we, you know, we're, we're happy to see those guys succeed finally. And they put in their time, but I mean, it's just too much money. Like, I mean, maybe they could restructure. Yeah. Like maybe they could restructure, like you said could restructure like you said but like i think if you restructure you've got to restructure him down to like the minimum and because i just don't think he's that guy like i mean i think you could go out and get an undrafted guy or get you know spend a sixth round pick on a guy and get it as much or better production on a cheaper contract that's locked in for, you know, multiple years,

like three, I mean, 3.2 million, like that's the difference in like, let's say you cut him and Jenkins. That's a difference in a good tight end or any tight end you want, because you can outbid everybody else in the first year. Like given that,

that $3.2 million, that's my veteran cornerback. That doesn't make the Titans rely on three guys in their first three years. And Fulton's really in a second season because that first season was basically a redshirt with all the injuries. So, like, cutting Kern right there is the veteran cornerback that I'm hoping they get for depth purposes. So, there's so much potential there with that money. Yep. I mean, that's it.

It's like everybody says, well, you know, especially if it's like a $4 million deal, everybody's like, well, yeah, it's a $4 million deal, but that's not that much. What are you going to get? And so you can get a lot of people for 4 million, especially if you're cutting another guy and you have 8 million, you mean, you can get a solid veteran for 2 million and then an upgrade somewhere for 6 million. Like that's not nothing. And especially with how the titans are right now like i think they'll restructure a bunch of contracts and figure it out but they are above

the cap like they're gonna have to make some of the cunningham claim so like that that that'll get fixed i mean i'm not there's no concern like they've got a ton of flexibility if they want it but you know they are gonna have to make some tough decisions and that to me is one of the easier decisions even if it is you know sad to see a guy like that go. But, I mean, what are you going to do, wait until his contract's over, whether he's good or bad? I mean, you just can't do that. Right, right. I agree 100%. And, you know, you think about cutting Brett Kern, that saves you about $3.2 million and you combine that with the next guy that we're going to talk about that

out of every potential cut candidate this guy is the biggest lock of them all to be cut and that's offensive tackle Kendall Lamb and if Kendall Lamb is cut which he will be I'm willing to say that he's going to save the Titans another 3.2 million dollars So even if you don't go after an eight or $10 million tight end, like a Dalton Schultz or a Gronk, something like that, that $6 million, that could probably get you a Gerald Everett. That could probably get you a David Ninjoku right in that range. So you're talking about kicking a punt or cutting a punter and cutting a third string offensive tackle and getting yourself a starting tight end so that that has to be done and i would imagine that you're on the same page with me there kendall lamb is going to be cut would you say that's correct

unless they do something crazy where they just decide we're remaking the whole line and we want radins and lamb to be our tackles. Like, I mean, which, which they don't even gel. Like it goes back to that whole piecemeal thing. They're not, they're not the same type of guy. So it wouldn't really make sense to have them. So yeah, like, I mean, Lamb is an easy, which it does. It is aggravating because if Lamb or if Tass Umbrella stay healthy in the

preseason, then one of them is the starting right tackle. Questenberry isn't giving up a league high in sacks. And there's probably a few narratives that are different. And it does really suck that they had those injuries. You know, Radins too. I mean, like they had three guys who should have had the job and it went to the fourth and worst option. So, you know, I don't – just like when the Titans sign a veteran corner

next year, like this year, I don't begrudge the decision. You know, I don't begrudge signing Kendall Lamb because it made sense. He was like half the price of, you know, whatever. So I get that, but at the same time, it's just like, man, what an unfortunate group of injuries to happen in one position. Yeah, and the way that it worked out. So, I mean, looking at this, we talked about these six guys. Out of the six, if you had to pick four that you think,

I don't want to say want because we don't want people to lose their jobs and everything, it's just part of the business, but out of the six guys, which four do you think will be cut for certain? I mean, it's hard. Like Kern, Lamb, Jenkins, Saffold. I mean, those, like I would almost put money down that those guys will not be on the team next year. Like I just, I can't see any way

that those guys are on the team. Like unless somebody just decides, like unless Saffold says, I just love playing in Tennessee. I'm going to get my tax-free $2 million, and you can take away $10 million off your books just from – unless that happens, those guys are gone. He doesn't seem like that type of guy, though, I got to say. No.

And Saffold saying, I'm not ready to retire. I want to play three more years. He looks like the type of guy, though, I got to say. No. And Saffold saying, I'm not ready to retire. I want to play three more years. Like, he looks like the type of guy. He'll just move on to another team and try to get the most money he can. Yeah, and, like, you know, you don't tough it out through a neck injury because you're ready to hang it up. Like, I mean, it's like, you know, if he wanted to hang it up, like, I mean, he wasn't playing his best.

He knew he wasn't playing his best. He went out there and, you know, he did what he could, but if he still thinks he has something left in the tank, like if he's not retired now, he's not retiring. I mean, he, he must think he's got more than one good year left. So, I mean, he'll, like, it would make sense to me for him to go to Atlanta. I mean, I don't know why he wouldn't hold out for, I mean, there's so many zone teams now for the proliferation, man,

of like the floors and all these, you know, Hackett will be using them. Like there's going to be a need for somebody to come in and be a mobile guard who knows what they're supposed to do and can talk and communicate. So, I mean, I think he's smart for not hanging it up. I just think some team's going to have to overpay him. Yeah. Yeah.

I agree with you. And I think those are my four as well and all I want to say is this the Titans are about 8 million dollars over the cap right now just as things stand if you make the four cuts that we said Saffold, Jenkins, Kern, Lamb

restructure Cunningham and Taylor LeJuan, the Titans are at $26 million in cap space. You save yourself $35 million just with those six moves right there. So I think that that's the path. I think we're both kind of in lockstep on there. The last thing, well, two last things, one comment, one question for you. It's also very tough for me to look at the Titans cap sheet and see Bud Dupree making about $20

million in cap hit this year. That makes my heart hurt, especially with everything going on with Harold Landry. Right now, I was critical of the Bud Dupree signing. Not only when it happened, but during the season. I know that he's a force multiplier. I get it, but I made an analogy the other day on the show that you buy a $400,000 house. You don't buy a $400,000 house if a tree has to be in the front yard

to make it look nice. And right now, Bud Dupree is the tree that makes our expensive house look nice when Bud Dupree was supposed to be in the front yard to make it look nice. And right now, Bud Dupree is the tree that makes our expensive house look nice when Bud Dupree was supposed to be the expensive house. So Bud Dupree is more of a cosmetic player that enhances everything around him rather than... Bud Dupree's the sauce on the protein,

not the protein itself. And when you're paying a guy $20 million and he's the highest paid defender on your protein, not the protein itself. And when you're paying a guy $20 million and he's the highest paid defender on your team, uh, you need to be more than just a sauce that enhances the meal. You need to be the, the dang protein or at minimum, the mashed potatoes on the side, you know? So I know that's a shaky analogy, but I think everybody understands where I'm going with that.

The last player that I wanted to ask you about was not in your list, but some people say I just have a vendetta here. I want to hear what you have to say. Darrington Evans, the third-round rookie from two seasons ago who has done literally nothing for the Titans because he cannot stay healthy. He's a three-carry-and-a-hamstring type of guy. They say three yards and a cloud of dust. He's three yards carry and a hamstring type of guy. They say three, three yards in a cloud of dust. He's three yards in a cloud of hamstring. Um, it would save the Titans $800,000.

I know that's not a lot, but would you cut Darrington Evans? I'm cutting him. I don't care. I'm cutting him. Give me my 800,000. Get the hell away from here. I'll sign Foreman back. I'll bring Hilliard back. Whatever it takes, get Darrington Evans off the roster. Would you agree with me, or do you think that the $800,000 isn't worth getting rid of one more year to see if he's able to help? I think if you cut Evans, you're going to have to pay somebody more than $800,000 to replace him. So, I mean, could you say you're getting a million dollar discount on one of those guys? Sure. I mean, I think Foreman's going to make five million, like, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised

to see him get like a five to $7 million deal for a team that needs another, like, just what a come up for him coming on this couch to $5 million. Yeah. And not even like coming off in like week two. Like, I mean, he was at home week nine. Like, I mean, like, you know, he was behind Adrian Peterson in the lineup when the Titans signed him. Like, so, I mean, he really worked his way into it.

But, I mean, you look at the way he runs. He doesn't have a lot of wear and tear. Like, he's shown that he's been able to stay healthy enough over the last two seasons. Like, there's a lot of teams with jitterbug backs who want to look for somebody who can be the power, who can be the thunder to their lightning. I think there's 0% chance that the Titans give him his best offer. If he stays with Tennessee, it's because he knows they know how to use him. He knows he's liked there.

He knows he's not going to be a quick cut if he starts off slow or whatever, but his best offer won't be from Tennessee. So if you're saying, okay, you can do that. And you're only paying $4 million more to keep him. No, I'm good. Like I like Evans enough as a prospect. Now understand, I don't expect him to produce anything. But if he comes in and he takes Chester Rogers' job as a kick returner

and they're focused on finding the best receiver they can find instead of trying to find guys who can wear multiple hats or whatever, like, cool. I mean, I don't know if he'll hold up there, but I don't know if I'm ready to say we're going to cut you for $800,000 and then pay a running back $2 million to be the backup. Well, how about this? Last year, the San Francisco 49ers found Elijah Molden in the sixth round.

Why are we paying $1.2 million for a third-round pick that hasn't done jack when San Francisco is finding their starting running back who looked like one of the better running backs in the league in the sixth round. Cut that man. Draft a running back in the sixth round. Like you said, there's 100 jitterbug running backs out there. Well, why can't the Titans find one worth a damn? It makes me so mad that the 49ers picked this guy in the sixth round

and we got Evans for a third year and he can't even stay on the field. Like I just cut that man and get an undrafted free agent draft somebody in the sixth or the seventh round. I don't care. Just obviously I'm frustrated. He has just assumed the roster pirate role for a running back. It was David Flewellen. It was Jeremy McNichols. And now it's Darrington Evans. They must have blackmail on John Robinson. That is my only theory. Well,

I mean, he's not even the word, the running back who should be cut the most. Like that's blasting game. Like, yeah. Tori Carter. Now that you're here,

Boston game's gone. And the lasting image of him dropping that pass in the flat in the playoff game it's just one of those moments where you realize oh he will never wear a Titans jersey again yeah the the cool thing about a lot of these guys is if you made a mistake in the playoff game it doesn't matter because everybody is like that's Tannehill's fault and cool we're not going to have that discussion but, he was not the only guy making mistakes out there. We just forget because Titans fans aren't going back and watching that game because who would want to at this point?

So, I mean, there's a lot of guys who got off because, you know, Ferkser gets off for dropping that pass in the two-minute drill in the first half because they didn't throw it to him on the last – again, I don't want to get into this because it aggravates me. But, yeah, like, I mean – but you're – like, just because you're not cutting Evans doesn't mean you can't do that. Like, draft somebody in the sixth round. Like, I mean, go after – like, spend – you know, every year the Titans have a Tierra Tart

or a Naquan Jones or Torrey Carter, Sharif Finch even. Like, you go back and there's this one guy in their undrafted rookie class that they pay a significant amount of money to. And he always comes out better than, you know, he comes out as a roster player. Like he makes the roster and he's good when he's on the field. Do you know, find your running back if he's there? I mean, we might not be there, but like find a running back on day three that you love, spend a pick on him or throw a bunch of money at him as an under after free agent and then see what he can do. But it does suck because the profile on Evans was never often injured like that.

That's a new thing that happened when he got to the NFL. So it's like, you know, do you cut ties with him? And then he has a six year career where he doesn't have any more injuries and he's a special team and third down back guy. Like, I don't know. Now, if you told me you can cut him for $800,000 and he's a special team and third down back guy. Like, I don't know. Now, if you told me you can cut him for $800,000 and bring back McNichols and pay him $800,000 that,

that I would be into because, you know, a McNichols has been good enough. And so like people forget how, you know, it's the jets, but he was really good in the jets game. And until he got that concussion,

he was a solid third down back. Like I've got no problem with them bringing him back, but like, if you're just going to cut him and say, we're going to trust a rookie, I think you are a little bit too high on Vrabel's ability to just play a rookie. Like he would end up, he would end up scratched for the first half of the season. Yeah. That's, that's a very good point. That's very true as well. I'm just, uh, as you can tell, frustrated with just all these you can tell, frustrated. Just all these teams out here draft these running backs late or undrafted and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and they're great contributors,

fantasy players, blah, blah, blah. The Titans drafted a running back in the third round, and the dude can't even see the field. It just doesn't make any sense to me. But, alas, there are a lot of things that don't make a lot of sense to me, like you still having a Santa Claus decoration in your background. Yeah, that also doesn't make a ton of sense to me. But hey, I'm a confused man.

What does make sense to me is checking out Will's article, checking out Will's content, No Nonsense Pod, Titan Size. He does a great job following him on Twitter, at JLomas72. Will, as always, thanks for coming on. And as always, thank all of you guys for listening to the Locked on Titans podcast, making it your first listen every day. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. And then finally, as always, that's going to do it for me today, folks.

Thank you for watching the Locked on Titans Podcast.