Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Salary Cap - Julio Money Clears & Offensive/Defensive Free Agents Fits

Episode Date: June 3, 2022

The Tennessee Titans got some found money on Thursday when the contract of Julio Jones officially came off their books. How much money did the Titans save? Tyler goes over the Titans financial situation as things stand. Next, with that money what can the Titans do? Tyler looks at the offensive and defensive free agents that could make sense!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport 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.Blue NileMake your moment sparkle with jewelry from Bluenile.com, and LOCKED ON SPORTS listeners get $50 off purchases of $500 or more using code LOCKEDON. 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, on today's show, the Tennessee Titans finally cleared Julio Jones' money off their books. I'm going to tell you what the Titans' salary cap situation looks like right now, how much money they have, and we're going to talk about how they could use that additional salary cap space. We'll look at some of the available free agents on the offensive side of the ball at positions of need.

And also on the defensive side of the ball at positions of need. So examining the Tennessee Titans financial situation 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 Network, your team every day. Titans fans, we are going to dive into the Tennessee Titans financial situation on today's show. Julio Jones' money just came off the books for the Titans on Thursday. So where does that leave them now? Before we get into the salary cap situation for the Titans,

I do want to thank you guys 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. I am going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year long. The Locked on Titans podcast is going to be free and available on all platforms,

and that includes the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Make sure you guys subscribe over there. Smash that notification bell so you know when all the content goes live. Throw a thumbs up if you're watching on YouTube right now. You can check me out on social media at Tic Tac Titans. Check out the show on Twitter, the Facebook page as well, at LockedOnTitansPod. But diving in here, and first and foremost, what I want to say is

two different websites that anybody who's talking salary cap are going to be using. Number one is SpotTrack.com. S-P-O-T-R-A-C. The other is OverTheCap. Now, both of these are very good websites, very informative, very easy to go through salary cap machinations, look at what cutting this player, adding this player, all these different things.

Really love both of these websites as tools. But one issue here is there's a bit of a discrepancy in how they view the Titans cap situation. SpotTrack has the Titans right now after the Julio Jones salary is wiped off the books after June 1st at about $11 million in cap space, while Over the Cap has the Titans at about $13 million in cap space. Now, what I can tell you is,

on Wednesday, the Titans cut ties with tight end Ryan Izzo. They also decided to sign a wide receiver as well. So, with those two things in mind, and those two transactions on the roster in mind, those moves have not been taken into account on over the cap. So for my purposes on today's show, I'm going to be going off the spot track numbers. I know a lot of you guys use different sites yourselves.

So if there's the discrepancy, that's what we're talking about, which website you are at. But with that in mind, going with spotTrack's numbers here for the Titans, which according to the roster moves are more up to date here, the Titans have about $11 million. They had about $2 million. Julio Jones gives them about $9.5 million of savings now that that officially came off the book as of Thursday. So there is going to be some dead money involved with Julio Jones, $2 million in salary,, 2.8 million in remaining bonus from the Titans restructuring him last year. God, the Titans are just in a tough spot with the Julio Jones move. But again, I don't blame John Robinson for swinging from the fences. Now, the Titans aren't going to get a full

$10 million in savings because the way the NFL salary cap works is they take into account the top 51 roster spots and the top 51 salaries that are on the roster. So Julio Jones's money will come off, but someone will, of course, replace. So right now we're looking at the Titans, again, having $11 million in salary cap. That's about the 18th most. See, if the numbers were right with over the cap and the Titans were at the $13 million, that would bump them up to being in the top half of salary cap money in the NFL. But right now, they're at 18th.

And you do have to keep this in mind. The Titans still have two of their draft picks that they need to sign Malik Willis and Roger McCreary so the Julio Jones salary cap comes off the books to 10 million the Titans cut Ryan Izzo at tight end they signed Jawan Green the wide receiver that was the name it was blanking for me they signed Jawan Green

and then they're going to have to sign their two rookies, Malik Willis and Roger McCreary. So all of that together, the Titans will probably have around $10 million to play with in salary and in free agency space. And I know a lot of you guys are saying, okay, they can go out and sign some free agents. But John Robinson likes to have some money to play with during the season. And especially when we see the injury issues that the Titans went through last year,

it makes sense that the Titans would be smart to keep some money, and it would also allow them to potentially make a trade during the season for a big-time player, maybe not even a big-time player, just a solid role player at a position of need. So, although the Titans would have some money to go out and spend on some additional veteran free agents, I still think maybe going out and getting one targeted free agent at a position they think they have a need before training camp and keeping that money for all the things that pop up during the season is ultimately the route that they will choose to go. But as for that targeted free agent who is available on offense at the positions of need,

on defense at the positions of need right now, getting ready to have that little four-week to six-week gap between the final end of mini camps and then getting into training camp, the Titans will reevaluate the roster. I definitely think that they have some positions. They could use some additions. So what names are available? What names make sense? We're going to get into that they have some positions. They could use some additions. So what names are available? What names make sense?

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Go to BlueNile.com today. Titans fans, we are going to continue this financial edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We are breaking down the Titans salary cap situation. We just talked about how much salary cap space they currently have right now and what other moves we should be looking at for the Titans that could take away some of that potential cap space.

But a big thing that we talk about here with the cap space is the Titans ability to add a veteran free agent at a position of need. And you look across the roster and I can look on offense and I can look on defense at some spots that, although I like what the Titans have, guys, we got to be honest here. Tennessee Titans fans are higher on Tennessee Titans, undrafted free agents and low end of the roster guys.

Then we should be. There's no way around it. I mean, Titans fans will always be more optimistic about the guys in their building than they're going to be. If you went into a Titans fan and said that the 5th or 6th wide receiver on the Colts is going to make a difference, a Titans fan is going to be like, no, give me a break, man. Undrafted free agent guy, low end of the roster guy, give me a break. But when Titans fans do it with their

own players, the Mason Kinsey's of the world, the Reggie Roberson's of the world, all of a sudden Titans fans are like, yeah, this undrafted free agent long shot player is going to make an impact for the Titans. Well, I got news. I don't think that's the case. And I think there are some positions where the Titans are relying way too heavily on young players or unproven players. And if they want to make the best roster they possibly can going into the season, there are some additions they could make before we get into the offensive free agents,

I think, fit that mold. I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If you could do me a favor, we have an important ask for you guys. We put together a little survey. We just want to learn more about you, the listeners, and what you like and what you don't like so that we can make your favorite Locked on podcast even better,

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Go to lockedonpodcast.com slash survey. And thank you all for your help. But moving forward here, of course, on offense, where else would I start? But at wide receiver. At wide receiver. And the top name that I've been talking about for quite some time is Will Fuller. Again, I know what you're going to say.

I know the initial pushback. He's always hurt. Well, I'd rather have, again, guys, we're relying on unproven players and undrafted free agents. I would rather have eight games of Will Fuller, who averages about 60 yards per game,

than a full season of Mason Kinsey. I would rather have Eight games of Will Fuller, who averages about 60 yards per game, than a full season of Mason Kinsey. I would rather have eight games of Will Fuller than 17 games of Reggie Roberson. I would rather have eight games of Will Fuller over 17 of Des Fitzpatrick or Racey McMath. Guys, you got to look in the mirror here, what we're talking about. Yeah, I know, Will Fuller's always hurt. But again, I take a hurt Will Fuller making an impact in some games.

Then some of these undrafted free agent guys that we're just lying to ourselves about. Just like we did last year in the preseason with this wide receiver group. And then once some of these guys had to actually play, we're like, oh crap. Wide receiver is a major need. So just keep that in mind when in the back, you just want to be constantly optimistic about the guys actually on the Titans roster. Remember, 40 of these dudes who we talk about potentially making an impact aren't even going to make the team. Okay? So, just keep that in mind. So, Will Fuller, obviously

my answer, but there are some other options out there. Cole Beasley is the next one that does make sense. I think the Titans would rather, I would rather roll with Kyle Phillips. I would rather give Traylon Burks more opportunity in the slot, Robert Woods more opportunity in the slot, but but if Kyle Phillips and Mason Kinsey both don't look up to

snuff, and the Titans do want that true, pure slot wide receiver, then I could understand Cole Beasley. I could understand it. I wouldn't be angry. Although I think it's some skill set overlap with Robert Woods who could play out of the slot.

Traylon Burks who I think is going to be a big time slot player earlier in his career as he learns the boundary wide receiver responsibilities and route tree. Kyle Phillips as well. Nick Westbrook-Akina played some slot. So I see some skill overlap there, but if the Titans do go out and get a Cole Beasley, then I think that's an admission they do want a little bit more veteran savvy at that slot position on offense. And I wouldn't be mad about that. Some foreigner Jaguars make some sense.

Alan Hearns, maybe D.D. Westbrook, if they want to go more low-level guys and just let them compete. Of course, there's Odell Beckham. Guys, that's not a fit for Tennessee. If he wasn't happy in Cleveland, he's not going to be happy in Tennessee. Plus, everybody's

saying they don't want Will Fuller because he's going to be hurt. Well, Odell Beckham's not going to be ready by the beginning of the season. He tore his ACL in the Super Bowl. So you can't argue that. Titans aren't going to sign the ghost of T.Y. Hilton. The ghost of ghost, you could say. Somebody said to me today,

I've heard maybe the Titans bring back Julio on a vetment. No, it's not happening. Emmanuel Sanders, maybe, although he's talking about his body breaking down, 35 years old. I don't know if that's the route the Titans want to go. They're not going to sign Antonio Brown. So for me, Will Fuller and Cole Beasley make some sense.

I would be okay with that. On the interior offensive line, Dylan Radins working primarily as a tackle. That means Jamarco Jones, Aaron Brewer battling it out for left guard. You can't tell me that adding Eric Flowers wouldn't be a big boost to the interior offensive line. If you don't want to go out and pay Eric Flowers, maybe a guy like Greg Van Roten, a guy like Alex Lewis,

maybe just get some of those guys in there and another veteran to compete. A guy like Alex Lewis, maybe just get some of those guys in there and another veteran to compete. Although to me, Greg Van Roten, Alex Lewis, not any better than Jamarco Jones or Corey Levin, you know what I mean, Aaron Brewer. At that point, if you're not going out and getting Eric Flowers, I don't really see the point adding to the interior offensive line. Maybe you want to get an offensive tackle in there.

Maybe you feel comfortable with Aaron Brewer and Jamarco Jones battling it out at left guard. Then you want an offensive tackle. And there are some of you guys who do think that offensive tackle is a way bigger need. And you're worried about Dylan Radins. And you're worried about Jamarco Jones. You're worried about Nicholas Petit Ferrer. You don't know if any of those guys can play right tackle.

Well, that's front. Brian Belaga. I always get that name wrong. One of you guys is going to tell me. I always say Beluga, like the whale, but it's Belaga. Okay. Maybe it could make some sense. Nate Solder. One of you guys is going to tell me. I would say Beluga, like the whale, but it's Belaga. Okay? Maybe it could make some sense.

Nate Solder, long time starting right tackle. Maybe it could make some sense. Riley Reif, even. A ton of starting experience in his career. Maybe he could make some sense. If the Titans do see Jamarco Jones as a left guard, which is something Mike Grable said he's going to get his beginning reps with the team at left guard.

If that's what they want to work him as, then they got Dylan Radins, Nicholas Petit-Ferrer at right tackle. Two young guys. Maybe they do want to bring a veteran in and see what happens there. And again, Balaga, Nate Solder, Riley Reif. Those guys can make some

sense at offensive tackle. But we're going to flip things, look at the defensive free agents that are available at some positions of need, and I got some roles carved out here that I think could make sense. Before we get into that, though, do want to tell you guys about rockauto.com. Rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving do-it-yourselfers online for over 20 years. Their online catalog is remarkably easy to use.

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We talked about Julio Jones' money coming off the books to start, where that left the Titans from a salary cap perspective, what additional spending they're going to have to do here in the next coming weeks, and then, you know, where they're at within the NFL in terms of salary cap. And as I pointed out earlier, there's a little bit of a discrepancy on the two websites that people usually use to talk about these sort of things. I went with SpotTrack, which in my opinion, based on the Ryan Izzo wave, and then the Jawan Green signing was a more updated version of the Titan salary cap

situation. But just wanted to make sure if you're barking in the comments that they have $13 million and I'm saying they have 11, it's because you're looking at over the cap, which they haven't accounted for the Ryan Izzo move yet. So at least when I looked when I started doing my research. But with that in mind, we move forward into offensive free agents at positions of need that could make sense for the Titans. Now, I want to get forward into offensive free agents at positions of need that could make sense for the Titans now. I want to get into the defensive free agents at positions of need that could make sense for the Titans. A lot of people are asking,

do you think the Titans can sign a free agent that'll make them Super Bowl contenders or reopen the Super Bowl window? Excuse me. Are the Titans going to make a splash move now? No. I don't see any big move. We're talking about low level free agents here, free agents that are still available in the middle of the summer. So it shouldn't be any kind of big splashy move. And I don't think anyone's available that's going to significantly impact the Super Bowl window, but every little addition can be just a tick in the right direction.

And you never know how many ticks away you are from a Super Bowl run. So you just never know. So anyways, with the offensive free agents out of the way, let's get into the defensive free agents before we do. I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first to listen every day. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream Monday through Friday, free daily Tennessee Titans content

on the Locked on Titans YouTube channel and whatever podcast platforms you do prefer. As for your second list, check out the Locked on NFL podcast. You get your Titans news here with me. Get your NFL news with the Locked on NFL podcast free You get your Titans news here with me. Get your NFL news with the Locked On NFL Podcast free and available on all platforms as well Monday through Friday. And I host the Thursday edition.

So I would appreciate your support if you guys check that out and subscribe to the Locked On NFL Podcast. But moving into the defense. A lot of you guys disagree with me. And guess what? I don't care. Because I do not trust Rashad Weaver right now. How can you?

A lot of you guys, we got Weaver. We don't need any help at Edge. We got Weaver. Man, he broke his leg. He was a freaking third-round draft pick, fourth-round draft pick, fourth-round draft pick. You got Bud Dupree, who was consistently hurt last year. You got Harold Landry, who they don't want to wear down anyways.

Outside of that, you got Weaver and Ola Dainey. I mean, Ola is a Pro Bowl special teamer, but I don't want him as the third rotational rusher. Even, I mean, the fourth rotational rusher, I guess he could be, but I don't want to rely that much on Rashad. Weaver is my concern here. I have high hopes for Weaver. I really do.

I'm not down on Weaver, but he's still a rookie coming off a major injury, and you're expecting him to be your third rusher? The Titans are going to rely more on that pass rush and that defense this year than anywhere close to what we saw last year. They need to stock up, okay? So, some veteran edge rushers who are available right now who would be the third best pass rusher on the team at the edge position.

Ryan Kerrigan. Yes. I get it. He didn't have a great season last year. But Philadelphia's pass rush wasn't good last year anyways. So, add Ryan Kerrigan to this group, and I bet he would be more impactful. Justin Houston, another guy who's been playing with the Colts.

Get him away from them. Maybe a Carlos Dunlap. Maybe an Everson Griffin. I'm much more interested in Houston and Kerrigan, but again, I would like to have Bud Dupree. I would like to have Harold Landry. If Bud Dupree gets hurt, then you got Rashad Weaver. Or you got Kerrigan, Houston. And then you keep Ola at the back of the rotation.

Keep him fresh for special teams duties. And still coming in, making a little bit of an impact on the rotation. I mean, that's what I want to see. You're relying way too much on Bud Dupree's health. And you're relying way too much on Rashad Weaver's development with no rookie year basically, for my liking. Relying too much

on that. The pass rush is far too important to be that risky with. Also, David Long, Zach Cunningham at linebacker, sweet. But Monte Rice hasn't participated in OTAs yet. And it's possible that it's injury related.

And if Monte Rice is dealing with injuries, I think the Titans are in a spot. Last year, at the end of the year, they had Long. They had Cunningham. They had Monte Rice. They had Jayon. They had Rashawn Evans. The depth was there.

No worries. But if David Long, who missed a big chunk of the season last year, or Zach Cunningham were to get hurt, and Monte Rice didn't get a ton of development in his second offseason because he was hurt the whole time, now you're talking about Dylan Cole?

Now you're talking about a special teams player like Chance Campbell? I mean, the Titans could use a fifth inside linebacker to go along with what they have. Because I'm not certain Chance Campbell will make the roster. I guess it would be their sixth inside linebacker

with Campbell, but again, guys, we can't rely too much on late draft picks, young, unproven guys, undrafted free agents. Give me veterans you know you can count on. If the Titans wanted to do that, a guy like Jamie Collins could give you some versatility. Maybe an Alec Ogletree, a Joe Sjobert.

Again, I would prioritize edge and some of the guys in the secondary far before I would prioritize off-ball linebacker. But just saying, if they're worried about Monte Rice's health and Chance Campbell is just purely a special teams guy, which I think Dylan Cole is as well, I mean, they're going to need somebody who can actually play some linebacker.

So if they want to do that, those are names that make sense. But in the secondary, the Titans could use another cornerback. Potentially, they brought in Greg Maben and Buster Screen as veterans, but could use another cornerback. Potentially, they brought in Greg Maben and Buster Screen as veterans, but maybe another veteran cornerback. Maybe they bring Jack

Rabbit back. Highly unlikely. Highly unlikely. But that makes more sense to me than a Julio Jones reunion. Give me a break. A.J. Boullier, a guy who had some familiarity with those coaches in Houston.

And Kevin King, who played for the Green Bay Packers. And look, I get it. He had some very public, tough moments. But he's like 6'3", 6'4", and the Titans, in my opinion, need more boundary cornerbacks right now than they need guys who can play inside. So Kevin King is a long press corner who can play on the outside and adding him into the rotation to battle it out with Greg Maben

or Buster Screen. I think that could make a ton of sense for the Titans. I really do. Safety, though. I do want to talk about safety. Yeah, Adam Cruz says, I like the idea, boy, yeah. Yeah, I get it. Are the division rival, the Colts will sign Julio Jones?

Let the Colts sign Julio Jones. Go ahead. I think if the Colts were, or if Julio was smart, he would go to Green Bay or Tampa Bay, though, and actually compete for a championship. But it's safety. So we've been talking a lot lately about that third safety role. Is Elijah Moulton going to be that third safety with Imani Hooker and Kevin Byard in the dime packages

with Roger McCreary playing slot cornerback? Is Elijah Moulton going to be able to play full-time slot cornerback? And then maybe like a Theo Jackson is in there. Maybe a guy like Michael Griffin II, who is an undrafted free agent for the Titans, could step up in that role. It's not going to be A.J. Moore, who's primarily a special teamer. Again, we can't rely too much on undrafted free agents

and late-round draft picks and unproven guys like Theo Jackson and Michael Griffin. Okay? Give me a vet. Especially with how much the Titans have been doing three safety looks. And look at a guy like Tashaun Gibson. Also, I want to point this out. Imani Hooker was guarding tight ends.

What if they want Imani Hooker to slide down and do that role? Then you would need a third safety to play deep with KB. A guy like Tashaun Gibson, who's played a ton of deep free safety. A guy like Jaquiski Tartt, who has a ton of versatility and can kind of do all of those things a little bit. If they really wanted to do something, Landon Collins is available still out there. He's a good safety.

Now, Landon Collins probably wants a better opportunity and more money than the Titans are willing to give. But to Sean Gibson, if they want that deep free safety, Jaquiski Tartt, if they want another versatile do-it-all safety, could make some sense for the Titans as well. Okay? So, I think those are veteran free agents on the defensive side of the ball that do make some sense for the Titans

with the newfound cap space that they got from Julio Jones coming off the books. But that is going to do it for me today. Typically, the Thursday night into Friday morning episode is the last one of the week. But with the holiday, I want to make sure I get you guys four podcasts this week. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow night, most likely on Friday night to give you guys another episode where we'll talk about

just the big talking points coming out of OTAs, the secondary depth and deployment, talk about the offensive line as well, some of the undrafted free agents that I think have a real shot to make the roster. We'll discuss all that on tomorrow's show.

But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. you