Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Must Call On Lamar Jackson, Carthon Squashes Byard Rumors & Offseason Schedule

Starting point is 00:00:00 Lamar Jackson requests a trade. Mike Vrabel does not commit to Tannehill in 2023. Things are getting spicy. I'm going to break that all down and more on today's 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, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, we got so much Titans news to discuss on today's show. Number one, Mike Vrabel doesn't commit to Ryan Tannehill while Lamar Jackson requests a trade. While John Lynch talks about Brock Purdy being the starter in San Francisco, we got a ton of quarterback news to discuss. Then we're going to talk about Rand Carthon and the comments that he made at the NFL League meetings.

Starting point is 00:01:11 He absolutely dropped a hammer on Jared Stillman's rumor about Kevin Byard. Also made some comments about some of the new free agent signings. And we'll go over the official Tennessee Titans off-season schedule and all of the important dates you need to know and why this year's off-season workout schedule is more important than any year in recent memory. I'm going to get into all of that before I do. I want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first to listen every day.

Starting point is 00:01:39 Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms, all year long, and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. Throw a thumbs up on the video right now if you're watching on YouTube, help support the channel. I definitely do appreciate it. Got a lot to discuss, so let's dive right in.

Starting point is 00:02:00 Number one, want to talk about the comment that came from Mike Vrabel. And he was asked, do you expect Ryan Tannehill to be your starter if things go according to plan? And Mike Vrabel said, I can't really commit to anyone being on the roster in September. But of course, we want Ryan as our quarterback. We want all of the guys that help us win. Look, this is what I've been saying all along. I find it very hilarious, the reaction to this. Some people come out saying, oh man, I can't believe he's not committing to him.

Starting point is 00:02:33 I thought they already did that. I thought that we were already past this. No, that's why I said with all the previous comments, what Rand Carthon said at his press conference, what Mike Vrabel then said at his press conference when he introduced all his new coaches, I have continued to push back against people who say that those comments

Starting point is 00:02:53 that were made during those times were commitments to Ryan Tannehill. They were right down the line. Hey, positive things about Ryan. Positive things about Ryan. But we're still evaluating the roster. We're not committing to anything. Just like right now, we can't really commit to anyone being on the roster in September,

Starting point is 00:03:11 but hey, nice things about Ryan, nice things about Ryan. That is the way that they have to play it. If the Titans wanted to get rid of Tannehill or they wanted to keep Tannehill, they would never come out in public and openly admit it because that would remove all leverage they have in any situation. If they come out and say they're committed to Ryan Tannehill and someone offers two first round picks for Tannehill, what are they going to do? Turn that offer down because they publicly said that they were committed to him as a quarterback? No, they're not going to put themselves in that position. So that's kind of where I wanted to start with things because if the Titans aren't truly committed to Ryan Tannehill or aren't willing to say that, then it only makes sense

Starting point is 00:03:49 that they're still canvassing their options. And we've heard the Titans in rumors about quarterback trades all season long. Now the Titans are having visits with all of these rookie quarterbacks. I mean, they went to Ohio State to see CJ Stratton, went to Alabama for Bryce Young, met with Will Levis. They're meeting with Anthony Richardson, whose pro day is later this week from Florida. The Titans are doing their homework on quarterbacks. So the action tells you more than the words will. But some words that may turn into actions come from Lamar Jackson,

Starting point is 00:04:23 who, of course, his contract situation with the Ravens has been public. It's been openly discussed. Lamar took to Twitter on Monday morning and had this to say, in regards to my future plans, as of March 2nd, I requested a trade from the Ravens organization for which the Ravens have not been interested in meeting my value. Any and everyone that's met me or been around me knows I love the game of football. My dream is to help a team win a Super Bowl. He talked about it being a business decision for him and his family, gave shout outs to his fans.

Starting point is 00:05:03 But at the end of the day, Lamar Jackson openly telling us that he requested a trade from the Ravens. And look, will the Ravens honor that trade request? Seems doubtful with John Harbaugh going out there and saying, everyone's going to look back and laugh when Lamar is the starter week one. And why would they say anything different? They don't want to lose leverage and admit that they're trading him because then values will go down because they know that the Ravens are looking to trade him. So the Ravens are going to hurt their own leverage by admitting that they're looking to trade him.

Starting point is 00:05:33 They're going to say exactly what they said. He's our quarterback. We'll work it out. Nothing changed, blah, blah, blah. But if you're the Titans, as I've said all along, I don't know if you make that deal, two first round picks, the contract and all it entails, but the Titans, whether they trade for Lamar Jackson or not,

Starting point is 00:05:55 need to go figure out what that price tag is. They need to call the Ravens, do the due diligence, figure out how much the Ravens would want in a trade for Lamar. What kind of contract would he be looking for? Even if they don't pull off the move, they need to at least do their homework, call the Ravens and figure out what it would cost at minimum, at minimum, to help them moving forward as Rand Carthon is now a GM

Starting point is 00:06:16 and help him kind of set a baseline of where Lamar Jackson's value is and he can use other values based on that. Also, just want to throw this in here quickly. John Lynch, the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, said that right now, Brock Purdy, when he's healthy, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold would compete for the job in San Francisco. But he also said, quote,

Starting point is 00:06:42 I think Brock has earned the right with the way he played that he's probably the leader in the clubhouse. That is quite the endorsement from John Lynch for Brock Purdy. Now, his health is in question, but they able to get Trey Lance. And with the Rand Carthon connection, I know that's something that a lot of people are interested in. I've talked about how I'm not very interested in that kind of move because you lose two years of rookie quarterback salary that makes it easier to build a team. You lose that, you're two years closer to having to give him money to the guy. So I would probably be out on something like that. But just interesting that all of these quarterback stories are happening on the same day.

Starting point is 00:07:31 But that's NFL League meetings for you. Speaking of NFL League meetings, Titans general manager, Ray Ankarthon had some interesting things to say at the NFL League meetings. We're going to talk about that and him absolutely destroying a local Nashville radio host attempt at breaking news. We're going to discuss that and at the end of the show, go over the Titans offseason schedule and why it's so important. Before we get into all of that though, do want to let you know that today's episode is brought

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Starting point is 00:09:17 We just talked about all the quarterback news, Mike Vrabel's comments on Ryan Tannehill, Lamar Jackson's trade request, talked about Trey Lance and his future in San Francisco, and Brock Purdy is the leader in the clubhouse to be the starter. Now I want to flip it forward, talk some more NFL league meetings, but talk about Brancard Thon's comments on a bunch of different players, but first and foremost about Kevin Byard. Before we get into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast

Starting point is 00:09:46 your first listen every day. I do want to let you guys know that the next two days, tomorrow, we're going to have a mailbag where I go through your guys' questions. The last two days of the week, we are going to look at the projected starting lineup for the Titans right now on offense and on defense so we can kind of identify the biggest needs for the Titans going forward as On offense and on defense. So we can kind of identify the biggest needs. For the Titans going forward. As they get into the draft.

Starting point is 00:10:09 But right now I want to talk about these comments. From Rand Carthon. And we saw a rumor. 10 days ago. Something like that. From Jared Stillman. And he said that Kevin Bayard. Demanded his release release from the Tennessee Titans.

Starting point is 00:10:28 Right after that, a lot of the heavy hitters in the industry, we saw Adam Schefter, saw Jordan Scholes, saw, I believe, Ian Rappaport as well, also Teron Davenport from ESPN. All those guys came out and said, Titans asked Kevin Byard to take a pay cut. He said no. But none of them said anything about Byard demanding a release. Well, Ray Carthon had something to say about that.

Starting point is 00:10:56 Quote, I will say this, Kevin Byard, nor his representatives, ever asked us for a release. So that was blatantly false. Continued quote, that's what I'll say about that. I have a ton of respect for KB and we'd love for him to continue his career as a Titan. End quote. I mean

Starting point is 00:11:23 put the hammer down, Ran. What a stupid, stupid rumor all along. Made sense that it never made sense. You know what I'm saying? So I'm not surprised that that's what Ran Carthon had to say. The conversation is pretty simple. Look, I don't deny or I don't think that the Titans didn't ask Bayard to take a pay cut. I'm sure they went to him and said,

Starting point is 00:11:45 hey, what would you think about maybe taking a little bit of a cut? Byard said, well, I'm amazing, so no. And that's the end of that. That's the end of that. The Titans aren't cutting or trading Kevin Byard anytime soon. If they want to do it as a post-June 1st move, maybe. But I just have a hard time believing the Titans get to the summer and then all of a sudden decide they're going to cut their best player

Starting point is 00:12:11 and try to find who to replace him. You know? I just have a hard time seeing the Titans do that. So, love seeing this quote from Rand Carthon. Love him dropping the hammer on a terrible rumor that didn't make any sense all along. But he also had some other comments that I thought were pretty interesting. He talked about Andre Dillard. And one of the big things that stood out to me when he talked about Dillard was him saying that he thought he had untapped potential,

Starting point is 00:12:39 which kind of confirms what we all thought about the signing that the Titans were going out, kind of confirms what we all thought about the signing that the Titans were going out, finding a guy who, first-round pedigree, has some starting experience, got benched, but has the potential to still be a pretty good player because he was on a Philadelphia Eagles offensive line that was really good. And, I mean, basically that's exactly what we see here from Rancar Thon. He said, with Andre, I guess for a lack of better way to put it, is untapped potential. This is a guy who's a former first round pick,

Starting point is 00:13:10 really athletic, and he just continues to get better. He just needed an opportunity. Carthon also said this, we'd like to start him off at left tackle and have him there first and see how it goes. But he's another guy that's played guard, and I think the big thing is having versatility.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Look, I want the Titans to let Andre Dillard play left tackle if that's what they signed him to be. Now, if they go out and they draft a Paris Johnson Jr. or a Broderick Jones or somebody who can play left tackle, then now comes in the time where he's going to have to compete. And maybe he gets slid to guard. But if the Titans don't go out and actually draft a pure left tackle, like if they draft Peter Skowronski, I'd let Dillard play tackle and let Skowronski play guard because you know you're going to get a great guard out of Skowronski

Starting point is 00:14:01 if you do that. And then you have Dillard at left tackle to give him a shot. If he doesn't work out, you could kick Skowronski out to left tackle in his second year and then find a new left guard. But I like the idea of letting Dillard just focus on left tackle to start. If for some reason you don't need him to play there, if for some reason it doesn't work out, then you can change it up. But what they did with Dylan Radins, trying to move him all up and down the line,

Starting point is 00:14:25 what they've done with other prospects at times, you know, lauding their versatility, but at the same time, you've got to let people get comfortable with the position that they're going to play. I think the Titans have hurt themselves a little bit with development on the offensive line by trying to move around people so much and make them play all these different positions.

Starting point is 00:14:45 Versatility is great, absolutely. But you need some guys who are just freaking good at their spot. You know what I mean? Like, I would rather have an A left tackle that can only play left tackle than have a B-plus guy who is a B at everywhere. But he's a B- plus because he provides versatility. You see what I mean? Like at some point you got to have some studs who are just beasts at their position and then you can fill in the gaps with role players who provide versatility. Okay. So

Starting point is 00:15:16 let Andre Dillard see if he can be the left tackle that he always thought he could be and that people thought he could be coming out of school. So I loved hearing that from Rand Carthon as well. The last thing that I wanted to talk about with Rand Carthon's comments is what he said about Aziz Alshair. And man, I just thought it was an excellent quote. He called him a maniac on the grass. I love hearing that. Rand Carthon said, quote, he's a maniac on the grass, but one of the most calming and even keeled, humbled spirits you'll meet off the field. Very thoughtful, very conscientious. I'm going to be surprised if—I'm not going to be surprised

Starting point is 00:15:52 if he logged the most community service hours of guys on the team. What I love about Aziz is his tenacity he plays with. He is full tilt every single snap. He is a guy that, at this phase of his career really wants to step into a leadership role. He really wants to embrace being a leader. And look, at linebacker with David Long gone, with Zach Cunningham gone,

Starting point is 00:16:18 Titans need a leader in the middle of the defense. Alciera has a great chance of being the green dot and calling the plays. And anytime you're doing that, you've got to understand how to get the guys lined up. They got to be confident in what you're telling them at all times. So it's important to take a leadership role when you're the linebacker that's in the middle of the defense and running the defense. So love to hear Rancar Thon's, I guess, confidence.

Starting point is 00:16:40 I do want to also mention Rancar Thon. We talked about all the connections to San Francisco people. Aziz Alshier, we talked about Arden Key, Daniel Brunskill. Carthon said, you know, I hope my relationship would get the deal done, but the Titans already had those guys identified before I even got hired. so it's good that Carthon was able to come in and say oh I do like that you guys have this guy on the board as an option for us let me see if I can get them in the building because of my relationship not have them as targets because of my history with them in San Francisco

Starting point is 00:17:14 so that's reassuring and that's optimistic news in my opinion as well but we're going to move forward here talk about the Titans off-season schedule we got all of the important dates in their off-season workout plan. Going to tell you what they are and why this year's off-season program is more important than ever before. We're going to get into that in just a moment. Before we do, want to let you guys

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Starting point is 00:18:27 that everyone in your family loves. So make sure to check out the best-tasting protein bars of all time, Built Bars. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the quarterback news. We talked about Rand Carthon's comments at the NFL League meetings. Now, I want to cap off here talking about the Titans off-season workout schedule, why it's

Starting point is 00:19:07 so important. Before we get into it, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. As for your second listen, check out the Locked On NFL Scouting with the Draft Dudes podcast from free agency to the draft, salary

Starting point is 00:19:24 cap management, and more. Join NFL experts Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino as they take you through what it's like to build a successful NFL franchise every Monday through Friday. Find Locked On NFL Scouting with the Draft Dudes wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. It's part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Diving right in here, the first big date on the off-season workout schedule

Starting point is 00:19:50 is April 17th, 2023. That is the first day that off-season workouts actually begin. And look, I'm going to break it down pretty quickly for you guys. So, so important for that first day to guys to get in, get their playbook, get acquainted with the new expectations of the new coaching staff. The Titans have a ton of new people on their coaching staff. And even if it's not a new coach,

Starting point is 00:20:20 there are coaches that have been moved into different roles all over the building. I mean, we saw Tony Dews go from running back to tight end. We saw Justin Howe-Taylor get promoted from assistant offensive line up to the official offensive line coach. We saw a new running back coach in Justin Otten. We see a new quarterback coach in Charles London. We see a new offensive coordinator in Tim Kelly. Charles London as the defensive back coach and passing game

Starting point is 00:20:48 coordinator on defense. They move all kinds of things around. So, you need to get acquainted with the new expectations from your new position coach, from your new coordinator. There's going to be a lot of things different around the building. So, that means that it's not like there's a brand new coaching staff from top to bottom, new head coach, everything, but there's also a new general manager, new executives in the building. There's a new feeling to the Tennessee Titans and the players need to get acquainted with what that is, even if they've been on the team for multiple years. So that makes this off-season's workout program more important than ever before

Starting point is 00:21:28 because of all the change that has happened with the Titans since the end of last season. So not only that, but as we get into May, once the draft actually has taken place, and we know about the draft class, May 22nd and 23rd and 25th is an organized team activity event. Those three days, you go the 22nd, the 23rd, take a break, come back the 25th.

Starting point is 00:21:54 That's a session for the Titans. Then we have May 30th, May 31st, break June 2nd. That's a session of OTAs. Then, finally, we have June 12th through June 15th. That also includes a mandatory mini camp from June 6th through June 8th. So, four OTAs for the Titans there as part of their all-season program. After those, we'll have to wait until training camp at the end of July for the Titans to be back on the field.

Starting point is 00:22:27 But again, those are so important because of all of the changes. I do want to point out, last year, there was a lot of hoopla with Traylon Burks and his conditioning and his workouts and all that at these OTAs that we're talking about right now. So we can talk about them being inconsequential or whatever, but there's going to be some big news coming out of those no matter what happens. And then the mandatory minicamp, one thing to keep in mind there,

Starting point is 00:22:54 what's going on with Jeffrey Simmons? Is his contract done by then? Does he show up? I don't expect these guys to show up to the OTA sessions necessarily, but that mandatory minicamp will be interesting to see who is in attendance for the Titans. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow for a mailbag. Send your questions to me at tiktaktitans on Twitter.

Starting point is 00:23:17 I'll try to get to as many as I can on tomorrow's show. Depth chart review on Thursday and Friday for offense and defense. Make sure you don't miss that. Get subscribed, stay subscribed to the locked on Titans podcast, but that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always,

Starting point is 00:23:31 I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this is Locked on Titans. you

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Must Call On Lamar Jackson, Carthon Squashes Byard Rumors & Offseason Schedule

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