Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans SHOULD NOT Use Franchise Tag, Tag Candidates to Watch & AJ Brown Convo Isn't Going Away

Episode Date: February 21, 2023

The Tennessee Titans should not use their franchise tag this year despite the tag window opening on Tuesday. With only Nate Davis and David Long as candidates, the price for their tags would not make much sense. Players around the NFL who could get the tag include Lamar Jackson and Orlando Brown, but if they aren't tagged or their team is looking to trade them, the Titans should be first in line. Finally, AJ Brown and his exit from Nashville are big topics in the news again. Tyler goes on a rant explaining why it isn't going away any time soon and that makes sense.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport 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 “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Ultimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet to get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Free Bets – win or lose! Visit Fanduel.com/LockedOn today to get startedFANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The franchise tag window is open, but the Tennessee Titans should not even consider using their tag this offseason. I'll explain why 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 Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, we got a lot to talk about on today's show.

First, the franchise tag window is officially open, but the Titans should not, under any circumstance, use their franchise or transition tag this year. We'll also talk about some players around the NFL who could get tagged, but if they don't, the Titans should be first in line to speak with them as free agents. And I got a Rollins rant for you guys on some recent comments that A.J. Brown made about the Tennessee Titans. Before we get into all of that, I do want to let you know that today's episode is brought

to you by the FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook of the NFL. Make every moment more. Visit FanDuel.com slash LockedOn today to get started. Also, thank you guys for making the LockedOn Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms, all year round and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. But diving in here, I want to talk about the franchise tag.

day. But diving in here, I want to talk about the franchise tag and look, a wide range of people watch the show. People who are very new to football and people who know all the ins and outs of the NFL and the salary cap and things like that. But I do want to break it down before we get into why I think the Titans should not consider using their franchise tag this year. So there are three different kinds of tags that are in the NFL. There is the exclusive franchise tag, the non-exclusive franchise tag, and then the transition tag. And as of the 21st of February, teams can basically put one of those tags on their pending free agents. And they have until March the 7th to decide to do that before those players will become free agents going

forward. And here's the difference between the tags. The exclusive franchise tag means that you're tagged as a player for whatever your position is set to be paid and no other teams have the right to negotiate with you. You'll see this placed on high-level quarterbacks because the non-exclusive franchise tag is a franchise tag where you get a one-year deal worth the average of the top five players at your position, their salary for the last five years. But with the non-exclusive franchise tag, other teams are

allowed to negotiate with you. And if your current team decides to let you go to a new team, they get two first round picks from the team that is signing the player away. So a lot of the time teams will put non-exclusive franchise tags on guys if it's not a quarterback because most teams aren't going to give up two first round picks for certain position players. But with a quarterback, some teams may. Like if the Ravens put the non-exclusive franchise tag on Lamar Jackson, the non-exclusive franchise tag on Lamar Jackson, a team may go ahead and say, hey, we're offering Lamar this,

and the Ravens say, okay, we're not going to match that offer, and then that team has to give the Ravens two first-round picks. So the Ravens are probably going to put the exclusive franchise tag on Lamar so that they don't run the risk of losing him whatsoever. But the third tag that we have to talk about is the transition tag. And that tag is a little bit lesser in money. It's the top 10 at your position is how they determine what the price is of that transition tag. But it also allows other teams to negotiate with you to see if they can pull you away from your incumbent team. To see if they can pull you away from your incumbent team. But if that player is pulled away and the team doesn't decide to match the offer that a new team is giving them,

they don't get anything in return. So less money on the transition tag, but it's riskier because if another team can take the player away, you get absolutely nothing. So that is what the tags are. Now let's dive into the Titans decisions. Number one, there's only two players that the Titans are deciding between right now, and it's David Long and Nate Davis. Those are the only players worth it for the Titans to consider a tag.

But when you look at what the franchise tag or the transition tag would cost the Titans for those two players, that's where we get into number two, and the Titans aren't paying that. They're simply not. So for a franchise tag for a linebacker like David Long, it's $20.9 million. David Long's estimates on spot track and pro football focus range from $5 million a year to $13 million a year. Whether he's at the top of that or the bottom of that, he's not getting anywhere close to $20 million a season. And then the transition tag is $17.4.

He's not getting close to that either. So the Titans absolutely cannot saddle themselves to these guys for one year for that price. And Nate Davis at the offensive line, it's $18.2 million for the franchise tag and $16.6 million for the transition tag. Nate Davis is going to get about $7 to $8 million a year. So that's why it's cut and dry for me.

The Titans are not going to use their franchise tag like they did for Derrick Henry a couple of years ago. Now, look, if the Titans think that they can use one of these tags just to secure the guy's future with the team, and like Derrick Henry, got the franchise tag, and then before the deadline in July, was able to work out a long-term deal with the Titans so he didn't have to play on the franchise tag, have to play on the franchise tag. Maybe, but with the pricing being so much higher for the tags than what these guys are going to get their estimate wise, it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever for the Titans to commit that kind of money to either of these players. If you're Nate Davis and you get franchise or transition tag for 16.6, Well, based on his average annual value

of seven to seven and a half to eight million, that's two seasons of guaranteed pay for one year. I would take my transition tag and happily play a one-year deal worth twice as much as I'm worth. So the Titans aren't going to be using a tag this year, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be paying attention

to franchise tags and transition tags around the NFL because there are two players that should be franchise tagged, but if they aren't, the Titans need to get first in line to talk to them after they become free agents. So I'll tell you who those two players are before we get into it, though. Do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. FanDuel is the official sportsbook partner of Locked On and we are happy to let you know that it is a great time to sign up at FanDuel. Look, the football season may be over, but we're midway through the NBA season, actually a little more than midway through the NBA season.

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Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about the Titans franchise tag situation. There's no way that they're going to use their franchise tag on David Long or Nate Davis. It's just not going to happen. But I want to talk about some players who potentially could get franchise tag, but we got to talk about the chance that maybe they don't. So before I dive into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms, all year round, and always for free. I'm going to finish out today's show with a little bit of a rant on A.J. Brown's recent comments. Coming up soon, starting next Monday, we're going to dive into the free agency preview with free agency right around the corner in the middle of March. So make sure that you stay locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast for all the free content coming your way this offseason and beyond. But looking at two players who are expected to get the franchise tag,

but even if they do, there's the potential they could still be had in a trade, maybe. So, number one, Lamar Jackson. You got to talk about Lamar action Jackson here. And look, I get it, guys. There's concerns about Lamar, injuries, sickness. He's missed like 14 games over the last three years. But I personally think that some of the games that he missed last year were due to the contract situation with the Ravens.

They did not give him a new contract, and he didn't feel secure going out there and playing while injured I'm gonna say no fan wants to hear that you want your guys to be loyal to the soil and play every time no matter what but You want to play me you got to pay me? Okay, so I could understand if Lamar was like hey my knees hurt. I could go out there I could tear an ACL. I could hurt myself even more.

And then what are you guys going to do with me after the year? Cast me off? So there is some logic there. And I can see why maybe Lamar didn't want to go out there and risk further injury. I'm not saying he was not injured. I'm saying he was injured. And maybe he could have played through it. Maybe he couldn't have.

Sometimes we'll never know. Like we saw Marcus Mariota with the Falcons this year. As soon as he got benched, oh, now I'm going to go have a knee procedure done. If he would remain the starter, probably would have played through it. You see how that works? It's all politics.

You guys work in offices where people do stuff like this all the time. You know what I mean? You look it up for number one. That's just the reality here. But the other reality here is Lamar Jackson is 45-16 as a starter. Lamar Jackson has 12,209 passing yards and 101 career passing touchdowns to go along with 4,437 rushing yards and 24 career passing touchdowns to go along with 4437 rushing yards and 24 rushing touchdowns

Now if the Ravens don't franchise tag him He's gonna be a free agent it would be tough for the Titans to get him on the free agent market no lie, but if the Ravens do franchise tag him and then look to trade Lamar, well, the tag number for quarterbacks is only $32 million. So, you

release or trade Ryan Tannehill, save your money there, you do all the moves that we've talked about, Zach Cunningham, Bud Dupree, Taylor LeJuan, Robert Woods, Randy Bullock you get the money necessary you do the trade and then you extend Lamar Jackson

to bring that salary cap hit down in his first year and you get him in your building and now you're rocking for the next four to five years with one of the best dual threat quarterbacks to ever suit up. Period. Period. I'm not even a big Lamar Jackson supporter. I'm not somebody who thinks that he's in that elite class

of Pat Mahomes and Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. I don't even think that. I think he's at the top of tier two. But my God, it is impossible to deny that he is one of the most dynamic electric playmakers in the NFL. You get him in an offense with Derrick Henry? I mean, it's hard for Titans fans

not to fantasize about what that would look like. Okay? Lamar Jackson is clearly multiple steps ahead of Ryan Tannehill. So. To me. That would be an option. I don't think it's likely.

I'm not sitting here telling you it's going to happen. But the Titans would only be doing the smart thing. By keeping their eye on the situation. Likewise. The second player that I want to talk about. Is Orlando Brown. From the Kansas City Chiefs. Look.

That guy is going to be sick of getting the franchise tag. The Chiefs franchise tagged him last year. It's possible that they do it again. Could be a situation where he refuses to play on the franchise tag a second year. And the Chiefs maybe let him go into free agency. Maybe it's the same thing as Lamar Jackson. Where they franchise tag him just to make sure they don't lose the asset for nothing. And then they look to potentially trade him.

And an offensive lineman, the franchise tag is 18.2. That's probably less than the average annual value of Orlando Brown. Now, he's going to get a little bit more than that because he's getting franchise tagged two years in a row. But my God, his AAV next year is projected to be like $25 million. You're going to get him at a bargain or at least what he's worth.

And then once you get him in the building, you work out the long-term deal by July, you bring the cap hit down in year one, and you structure the contract to benefit the player and the team. I personally would trade pick 11 for Orlando Brown. I would. Everybody wants a left tackle anyways. Why not get a guy who is top 20 and run block

grade and pass block grade and one of the big things that we've been complaining about as Titans fans is durability in the injuries. The guy has missed one game in like five seasons. Durable. Productive. I mean, I'm not saying the Titans are able to pull any of these off, but with the fact that the Titans aren't going

to be using their tags, they need to keep an eye on these players' situations with their current teams. But with that in mind, I'm going to finish off today's show with a little bit of a rant on A.J. Brown. It's not going to go probably how you think it's going to go, but he said a lot in a recent interview. I'm going to touch on a little bit of it and just give my general— there's a certain response that I get from people

anytime AJ Brown comes up. And I'm just here to tell you, too bad, too bad. So we're going to discuss off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast with a little bit of a Roland's rant for you guys. We talked about the Titans not using their tags this year. We talked about some guys they need to be paying attention to in regards to their franchise tag situation. But before I dive into this AJ rant, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all

platforms, all year round, and always for free. Make sure you stay locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast. Look, tomorrow on the show, I'm going to dive into AJ's comments even more because there's a lot of them that we haven't got to fully flesh out yet. Didn't really have time to put it all together for you guys. So tomorrow we are going to go through all of his comments. But one that popped out early today was him, A.J. Brown before the Titans and Eagles played this year.

A.J. said he gave everything that he knew away to the Eagles defense. All the Titans audibles, all the Titans checks, all their cans, which is when you hear the quarterback say, can, can, can. There are two plays called in the huddle. If they can it, it goes to the opposite play that they had called, blah, blah, blah, all this and plays called in the huddle. If they can it, it goes to the opposite play that they had called,

blah, blah, blah, all this and that. So, look, number one, why wouldn't he do that? Why would he show loyalty to the Titans when they showed no loyalty to him? Of course you're going to give away information to your new team. We see guys get taken off practice squads for this reason all throughout the season. Hey, we're going to play this team next. We're going to poach somebody off their practice squad and see if they'll give us information on their calls. Whatever. AJ said he was telling them what words they use when they change plays and this and

that. Well, every team in the NFL and lower levels in football. I remember in peewee football, we had Lizzie and Rip and that would say, hey, we're sliding to the right. We're sliding to the left on the offensive line. And that's peewee football when I'm in third and fourth grade. So it's not like teams don't use these words. There's no way. And AJ was talking on the Raw Room, which is Darren Bates' podcast. Shout out to Darren Bates and the Raw Room. which is Darren Bates' podcast. Shout out to Darren Bates and the Raw Room. But, so it's not uncommon for teams to have this language and all that.

And if you pay attention enough, you probably have an idea. But what I have a real issue with here is, why would a player from the 2021 Titans offense know every single call for the 2022 Titans offense? Is there really no change? And A.J. Brown said they didn't change a thing. Well, that just reminds us once again that Todd Downing is absolutely the worst offensive coordinator in the NFL. And I don't know what the New York Jets are doing

hiring him to be their passing game coordinator, but they're out of their minds. So, just wanted to touch on a few of those things first before I give you this. Every time I talk about anything related to A.J. Brown, you get the same response from certain people. Move on. Let it go. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

You know what my response to that is? You need to let it go because no one's going to stop talking about A.J. Brown and the Titans. If you think that people are going to just stop talking about A.J. Brown and the Titans,

you need to let that go because it's never going to end. Never. A hundred years from now, a century from now, the A.J. Brown-Tennessee-Titans trade will be discussed when the Titans come up. Get over it.

It is one of the worst moves in the history of the NFL, and it will be for the next century. We still, to this day, talk about the Herschel Walker trade with the Dallas Cowboys. Excuse me. Still, to this day, to this day, for my boxing fans out there, shout out Deontay Walter, but at the end of the day, when you make a historic blunder like the Titans made,

when you make one of the worst trades in the history of a league that's been going on for nearly a century, when you do that, it will never go away. A hundred years from now, people will bring up the A.J. Brown trade if we're lucky enough to still be on the earth. So when you see people talking about A. earth. So, when you see people talking about A.J. Brown, reminiscing about A.J. Brown,

discussing A.J. Brown, and your response is, move on, let it go. No, you let it go. Because it's never going away. It's never going away. Unless one of two things happens. One, the Titans get a wide receiver better.

They've never had one before, and they won't have one anytime soon. So unless that happens to erase the pain, they're never going to stop talking about it. I'm never going to stop talking about it. You can blame the media. You can blame the fan base. You can blame the media. You can blame the fan base. You can blame John Robinson.

Or two, the Titans have to win a Super Bowl because trading A.J. Brown gets you further away from winning a Super Bowl. So until the Titans either get a wide receiver better than A.J. Brown, which never happened for the first 20 years of the franchise's existence. And don't give me that Derrick Mason stuff. Don't. Derrick Mason was nowhere near as good of a wide receiver as A.J. Brown. Derrick Mason made his Pro Bowl as a kick returner.

Okay? Derrick Mason is probably the second best wide receiver in Titans history, but that's how crappy the wide receiver history is for this franchise. A.J. Brown is a way better wide receiver than Derek Mason ever was. Sorry. Sorry. Not sorry. Okay? So until the Titans get a better wide receiver or win a Super Bowl, no one will ever stop talking about this trade. So you move on. You let it go. Because the rest of us are logical people

who are going to talk about the worst move in the history of the franchise for quite some time. It's literally been, it hasn't even been a calendar year since it happened. And you think people are just going to be over it? Grow up, man.

Grow up. That's all I got to say to that. I'm sick of seeing people say, move on, let it go. No one will ever let it go. No one will ever move on until the Titans win a title or get a better wide receiver than AJ.

And it didn't happen for the first 20 years, so it may not happen for another 20. And if you don't understand that, then it's you who is the problem. Not people who still want to talk about AJ. And with that in mind, tomorrow, we're going to talk about AJ the whole show. Because, boy,

I'm tired of people blaming John Robinson and the Titans or not blaming John Robinson and the Titans for what happened with AJ. AJ told the truth. And he with AJ. AJ told the truth. And he brought up text messages about the truth on the Raw Room. So we're going to dive into that tomorrow because I'm tired of people running from the fact

that their favorite team made the mistake. Yes, your favorite team that you like and cheer for screwed up bad. Historically screwed up. And it's time to admit it and accept it. But that's a story for tomorrow. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this

was Locked on Titans. you