Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans, Taylor Lewan Need to MOVE ON, Free Agent OT Options & DON'T TRADE DOWN IN FIRST ROUND

Episode Date: February 12, 2023

Tennessee Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan contemplated his future at the Super Bowl this week and regardless of what he decides, the Titans need to move on and Lewan should want to as well. Tyler explains why it's best for both parties to part ways. Also, we got news over the weekend that Kansas City Chiefs may franchise tag star tackle Orlando Brown. Tyler discusses how that impacts the Titans and other names on the free agent market. Finally, the Titans could consider a trade down in the NFL Draft, but based on expert opinion, they should not do so with the number 11 pick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Titans fans, it's time to move on from Taylor LeJuan. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Nearly 25 years as a Tennessee Titans fanatic, a certified film junkie, and a writer covering the Titans over at Sports Illustrated. Folks, we got a lot to talk about on today's show. First, the Titans need to move on from Taylor LeJuan, and it sounds like Taylor LeJuan may be ready

to move on himself. Also, one of the top options on the free agent market to replace Taylor LeJuan may not be available for the Titans in free agency after all. And I'll explain why I think the Titans should not trade down with their pick in the first round. We're going to get into all of that and more. But before we do, I want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com slash locked on and get on your way to being your best self. I want to thank you guys as well 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 that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. The Locked On Titans podcast, it's your team every day, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now. The podcast is always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, let's dive into this conversation about Taylor LeJuan. I wrote an article for Sports Illustrated's All Titans site over the weekend outlining how I feel about this.

The Titans need to move on from Taylor LeJuan. They need to cut the cord. First and foremost, Taylor LeJuan is going to be cut, and he knows it himself. He has no guaranteed money left on his contract. He's only played 20 games in the last three seasons. He's consistently been hurt and he's just not a guy that you can rely on at this stage in his career.

With the cap savings, like I said, $14.8 million will be saved on the cap by cutting LeJuan. It's a foregone conclusion that that will happen. And as a matter of fact, Taylor LeJuan. It's a foregone conclusion that that will happen. And as a matter of fact, Taylor LeJuan himself spoke at Super Bowl week and basically agreed. He said, quote, in the next couple of weeks, I will be cut by the Tennessee Titans. That will happen.

I truly believe that in my heart of hearts. Because he understands the situation. Like I just said, 20 games in the last three seasons, he has not been a guy who's been able to stay on the field. And when you're expected to get paid that much money and there's no downside to cutting you because there's no dead cap, there's no more guaranteed money on his deal with the Titans cap situation being 23 million over the cap right now, like he said, he will be cut by the Tennessee Titans. That is going to happen. The question becomes, what happens next? And there

are three paths for Taylor LeJuan, essentially. He can retire. He can go play for another team. Or there is the chance that he would come back to the Tennessee Titans. And play on a reduced deal. But I am here to tell you. That would be the worst option of them all. Okay. I get it. You bring back Taylor LeJuan at you know six, seven, eight million.

Something like that. A bargain deal. Half of what he was getting paid before. And if he does stay healthy and play. $8 million, something like that, a bargain deal, half of what he was getting paid before. And if he does stay healthy and play, then you probably have a pretty solid tackle for quite a bargain, for quite a discount. But why would you believe that Taylor LeJuan would stay healthy? We have no evidence of that for the last three seasons.

Why would the Titans put themselves in a position to rely on Taylor LeJuan knowing what we know from the last three years? Look, if you want to say, hey, still draft an offensive lineman, draft a rookie. I've seen some people say, you can play that rookie at right tackle. And then if Taylor LeJuan gets hurt, you put him at left tackle. Well, then who plays right tackle after the rookie moves over? Also, you're going to have a rookie in training camp however long until Taylor LeJuan gets hurt playing right tackle, and then in the middle of the season or early in the season

after all that work at right tackle, you're going to flip a rookie over to left and have him just play that and hope he does the same. We should know by now that moving these rookie and young offensive linemen all over the place and not letting them have any kind of just consistency at one spot is a detriment to their development. So you're going to prioritize bringing back Taylor LeJuan for the feel-goods in your stomach over putting your rookie offensive lineman

in the best position possible to develop for now and the future? It doesn't make any sense. And one, you're not going to take an offensive lineman at number 11 and then have him be a backup to Taylor LeJuan because you don't want to move him around all over. You draft a non-quarterback that early in the NFL draft, he needs to play right away. So that doesn't make any sense to me. And then if you talk about, hey, still go out in free agency and get somebody, well, what are we

going to do? Go out there and say, hey, we're going to sign you in free agency, but you might back up Taylor LeJuan until he gets hurt and then you can play. I we're going to sign you in free agency, but you might back up Taylor LeJuan until he gets hurt and then you can play. I'm not going to sign with the Titans under those circumstances. Hey, we're going to sign you, but we're going to play you at right tackle until LeJuan gets hurt and then move you over to left tackle. I would just sign with a different team that's going to let me play left tackle and be the starter right away. Also, if you use six, seven, eight million dollars on Taylor LeJuan, that's less money you have to find a guy in free agency. So to me, I know that there are some heartstrings here. And look, this isn't meant to be Taylor LeJuan hate. Taylor LeJuan is one of

the most underappreciated Tennessee Titans in the franchise's history. So many people dislike Taylor LeJuan because of his podcast or his flamboyant personality or whatever you want to call it, but the reality is he had nine seasons with the team, made three Pro Bowls, was the left tackle for some of the best teams this franchise has ever had, and everybody complains the Titans don't get any attention or get any respect nationally. Taylor LeJuan was a personality and a familiar face that fans could identify with during some of the down times with the Titans and some of the times that they weren't properly represented within the national space. So to me, this isn't Taylor LeJuan hate.

This isn't some hit piece. But the reality is the Titans need to move on. Do not let any Luan stuff linger with this team. Put all your resources, whether draft or free agency, into finding his replacement, someone who can stay healthy, who you can count on, who will be out there for an entire season and seasons to come. I do want to go over one more quote with you guys though, because my opinion here is not just about the Tennessee Titans. Taylor Luan do want to go over one more quote with you guys though, because my opinion here is not just about the Tennessee Titans. Taylor LeJuan should want to retire at this point. Listen to this quote, quote, listen, I would put my life up against anybody's. I have a fantastic life. I have a

wife that is truly incredible, that puts up with my BS on a daily basis and loves me for it. She actually enjoys the BS. Then there's my two daughters. My five-year-old is the sweetest thing in the entire world. Your textbook loves unicorns, rainbows, and puppies. My two-year-old is an absolute firecracker who is going to get what she wants, when she wants it, and how she wants it. And they all love me. It's amazing, really. I am all right. I don't have to work. That's not me pumping my tires. That's just the reality of where I'm at right now at 31 years old. It's a good feeling knowing where I've come from in my life when I was younger. And I agree with everything Taylor LeJuan says right there.

His body has been beat up playing NFL football. He's made over $80 million playing NFL football. He's in his early thirties. Why would he take a discount to say he does stay healthy and play well? He's going to play at half of what he's worth and take the risk of beating up his body even more? For what? For what? He's made his money. He has a family now. He's got a successful secondary career ahead of him. Taylor LeJuan is going to be a media rock star. He was excellent during the college football playoff games. He's obviously got bussing with the boys. Taylor LeJuan does not need to play football anymore. The Titans shouldn't want him back and Taylor shouldn't want to come back either. But with that being said, we're going to move forward in today's show.

One of the top three agent options for the Titans to replace Taylor LeJuan may never actually make it to the market. I'm going to explain who that is and what other options the Titans have in free agency. Before we get into that though, I do want to talk a little bit more about today's title sponsor, BetterHelp.com. BetterHelp is not, you know, self-help. It's actual professional online therapy available to you with convenience. Quite frankly, I worked with BetterHelp at the beginning of the season. I'm moving from house to house.

The season starting is a lot of stress at that time, and I could not be more grateful for the process that BetterHelp puts you through. They have a questionnaire that helps figure out exactly what you need help with and what therapist is going to work best for you. When you're at your best, you can do great things, but sometimes life gets you bogged down and you may feel overwhelmed or like you're not showing up in the way that you want to. If you're thinking about giving therapy a try, BetterHelp is a great option. It's convenient, flexible, affordable, and entirely online.

Like I said, you just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist. And you could switch therapists for no additional charge. No big deal. Anytime. If you want to live a more empowered life, therapy can get you there. Visit BetterHelp. That's H-E-L-P.

BetterHelp.com slash locked on today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P.com slash locked on. Titans fans, we are going to continue today's Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about Taylor LeJan's future with the team. Now I want to talk about the Titans future without Taylor Luan in the free agent market. If they look to

add a tackle in free agency, the options just got a little bit less. So we're going to talk about why that is and what other options they're going to have at that position. Also at the end of the show, I'm going to tell you why the Titans do not need to trade down in the first round. We've discussed it a little bit here on the show, but I feel pretty confident now that that is not a move they should make. Before we get into all 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 all year round on all platforms. That includes your favorite podcast platform and the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Make sure you get subscribed and stay subscribed for year-round free Titans coverage. We got some news on Sunday morning about probably the top name on the free agent market at offensive tackle. And it's Orlando Zeus Brown Jr. from the Kansas City Chiefs.

So the Chiefs traded for Orlando Brown from the Ravens a couple years ago. They franchise tagged him in free agency last year. So he never actually hit the open market. There was some thought that Orlando Brown could now hit the free agency market after playing on the tag for one year. But according to ESPN and some of the pregame shows before the big game, Orlando Brown is most likely going to receive the franchise tag again from the Kansas City Chiefs. And how this works is if you get franchise tag two years in a row, this happened with like Kirk Cousins when he was in Washington. If you get franchise tagged two

years in a row, the second year is way higher than what the typical franchise tag price is because you're getting tagged two years in a row. And that prevents a player from getting to the open market. So they had to negotiate a way for that to help the player a little bit more. And it looks like Zeus Brown is going to be franchise tagged by the Kansas City Chiefs. And it does make sense from the Chiefs perspective. You traded draft capital to get this guy. You can't just let him walk after having him for two seasons. So that does make sense. But from the Titans perspective, the top offensive tackle on the market now is probably never going to make it to the market.

And look, you could look at that two different ways. One, if Kansas City would have let Orlando Brown go, they themselves would have been in the offensive tackle market. So that's another competitive team in there with the Titans. But you could also look at it this way. With Kansas City having their offensive tackle and with Orlando Brown being the top choice on the market and him being gone now,

that means that every offensive tackle that is going to the market is now going to cost more because now the top free agent is going to get a better deal because the team's going to be more desperate to bring them in and it's going to drive up the price of everybody that does actually become a free agent. Looking at some of these options, I would say the top name on the market if Orlando Brown is franchise tag is probably Caleb McGarry who just played with the Atlanta Falcons. He's projected to get around $16, $18 million. That

could go as high as like $20 million now with Brown being off the market. Another guy, Isaiah Wynn, who played for the Patriots. Andre Dillard, who's been the backup left tackle behind Jordan Mailata for the Philadelphia Eagles, I think makes a ton of sense for the Titans. I've really been banging the drum on Andre Dillard since the season. I honestly thought the Titans may be wise to trade for Dillard, but it didn't make sense for the Eagles to do a trade

because when he signs a decent free agent deal, he's going to get them a compensatory pick. So if the draft pick that was in the trade during the season isn't more than the comp pick, it doesn't make sense for the Eagles to do that. They'd rather keep their depth and then get the compensatory pick when Dillard leaves. So that's an option as well. A guy who Titans fans have really identified as someone who would make sense

is someone who played for San Francisco, Mike McGlinchey. He could make a lot of sense. And now with Rand Carthon coming over from San Francisco, you can see how that would make sense. His deal would probably be anywhere from about $10 to $13 million in annual average value. So that could make sense.

Jawan Taylor from the Jacksonville Jaguars. If he's not retained, he could be a guy to slide in at right tackle. The Titans draft a left tackle and then you go from there. So there are a lot of options. Even some guys at the end of the list like George Fant or Yash Nyman from the Green Bay Packers. They can make a little bit of sense if the Titans want to go cheap and look for an option there.

We're going to break the free agent market down further as we get closer to free agency, but just wanted to talk about how some people wanted Orlando Brown for the Titans, wanted the Titans to go out and get a guy who is consistently healthy, who performs. He had up and down moments this year with the Chiefs, but with how much they pass the ball, it's got to be tough for an offensive lineman to hold up consistently with all those reps and pass protection. Came from a system in Baltimore where obviously they like to run the ball. So I do think Orlando Brown would have been a good fit, but his projections were, you know, 20 to 25, $26 million per season. And I just don't think that would have been the move for the Titans anyway. I think a mid-tier contract with a guy like Dillard, with a guy like Wynn, with a guy like McGlinchey,

I think that would have made a little bit more sense for the Titans. All I can say now is if Orlando Brown does get the tag from Kansas City and does not hit the open market, the price for all of those guys has just gone up a couple of million dollars. So not exactly the news that the Titans wanted to hear, whether they themselves wanted Orlando Brown or they did want somebody more in the mid-range, but that's something they'll have to navigate going forward. But with that said, do want to move forward in today's show.

The Titans have picked No. 11, and based on something that ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said earlier in the week, or I guess it's last week now, I don't think the Titans should trade down from that number 11 pick whatsoever. And we're going to explain why and go over what Todd McShay had to say. Before we get into that though, do want to tell you guys that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. I'm so excited about our new betting partner in FanDuel because they're the number one sports book in America. Look, football season is now over, but we are smack dab in the middle of the NBA season

and right when football ends and after the all-Star break, NBA season is at its best. And right now, new customers to FanDuel can get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. You get bonus bets back even if you don't win your first bet. So download the FanDuel Sportsbook app. It's safe, secure, and super easy to use. Then you can bet on everything from the money line to point scores to how many threes a guy is going to make. Single game parlays for NBA games are just like top tier sports wagering stuff.

I love making a single game parlay lotto ticket. Bunch of different legs together. You bet $10 to $25 to hit a couple thousand. I mean, it just takes the NBA experience to a new level. You could add in the spread, the over-under totals. Like I said, points, rebounds, assists, how many threes, how many steals, everything. It's absolutely fantastic. So don't miss this chance to get your no sweat first bet up to $1,000 in bonus bets

when you go to fanduel.com slash locked on. That's fanduel.com slash locked on. Make every moment more with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's show taking a look at something Todd McShay said recently that I think has led me to believe that the Tennessee Titans should

not, should not trade down from pick 11. Before we get into what Todd had to say, Todd McShay had to say, see how that worked out, do want to let you guys know that I appreciate you making the Locked on Titans podcast your

first listen every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms and always free. Tomorrow, I'm going to be breaking down cut candidates again. The Super Bowl happens and the season is over. We're going to start hearing some cuts here soon. So I'm going to do a little bit of a cut candidate refresher for you guys tomorrow. We're going to have a mailbag episode later in the week for you guys to send in your questions.

And I'll be interacting with you a lot of stuff coming this week on the Locked on Titans podcast. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed. But going over this Todd McShay quote and the first draft podcast, something that Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. do together, Field Yates is the host. Todd McShay said this recently, quote, I had a very prominent head coach call me and give me the business on a player who I had going in my mock draft a few weeks ago. I said, I have a second round grade on that player too,

but there are only 14 first rounders that I have right now. So like someone has to go beyond the 14th pick, end quote. Let me break that down for you guys for a second. So what I've been saying as well, now I've talked about this when we talked about the Titans' recent draft bus. Isaiah Wilson, Caleb Farley. One of the main reasons that the Titans had those issues is because of where they were picking.

Guys, just because there are 32 first round picks, 31 this year because the Dolphins are cheaters, just because there are 32 first round picks does not mean that there are 32 first round talents. Often in a draft, there are far less than that, which is why you see a lot of movement in the 20s, in the early 30s, in NFL drafts with trades. Because not every first round pick is a first round talent on people's boards.

One other thing to keep in mind here is as well, everything that you hear about this draft class, everything you hear about this year's draft, is this is not a very good draft. This is not a draft with a lot of talent. This is not a draft that is deep. A lot of people are saying you're going to look back at this draft in five years and this will be the worst draft of this five-year period. Well, if that's the case,

and there are only 14 first-round talents, then what the Titans cannot do, what they cannot do, is squander the opportunity that they have to get one of those players. The Titans are lucky enough right now to have that top 11 pick, which means they will have access to an actual first round talent in this draft.

What they cannot do is trade down to a spot where they're not going to get a bona fide first round talent to collect more picks in a draft that isn't that good anyways. That is what they cannot do. You're at pick 11. You have access to one of the studs in this class. One of the few studs in this class. You cannot squander it by getting impatient and wanting to have a billion draft picks.

I know, guys. I know. I can hear you furiously typing right now, they need as many picks as possible. This is not the draft where you want to do that. Take an elite talent, one of the few elite talents that are there. We just talked about the tackle market. The closer that we get to the draft, yes, I want Paris Johnson Jr.

That's my top choice. No doubt about it. But the closer we get to the draft, the more I think Paris Johnson may be gone. And if that's the case, I think that there's a really good outcome for the Titans here. That they sign a left tackle in free agency. One of the guys we just talked about,

Dillard, Wynn, McGarry, sign McGlinchey, you know. And then you draft Peter Skowronski to play left guard. And if people get hurt, Skowronski can kick out and play some tackle if needed maybe they want him to play tackle immediately anyways

either way all I'm saying is based on what McShay has said here and what a lot of draft people are saying the Titans are in a spot to get one of the actual first round picks in this draft they cannot waste that by falling back into the same range that led them to bust. Especially in this draft.

So, shout out my boy Will Lomas. Had a good article on this on Titan Sighted as well. But, yeah. I know we discussed it last week and last time we talked about mock drafts. But, the more I learn about this draft class, the more you hear from experts, I do not think the Titans should be trading down from number 11.

They want to trade down from 41 to pick up some extra picks. I'm all for that. I'm not saying don't trade down ever, but don't do it from pick 11. It's not the right move. 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.