Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans WINNERS & LOSERS: Levis Loses Big, Treylon Burks Survives & Big Questions Remaining

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Tennessee Titans are through two weeks of free agency and the biggest loser so far is definitely Will Levis. I'll explain on today's edition of Locked on Titans. 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 Roland Titans fans. Today's edition of the locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by monarch money. Take control of your finances with monarch money. Use code locked on NFL at monarch money.com for 50% off your first year on today's show

Starting point is 00:00:47 We're gonna go over the biggest winners and the biggest losers from the first two weeks of free agency so far for the Tennessee Titans I'm gonna tell you why will levis is the biggest loser I'm gonna tell you why Traylon Burks is a big winner and we'll talk about how much cap space the Titans have in the Remaining questions that they have going forward. Before we get into all of it, do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free, make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed.

Starting point is 00:01:19 It's your team every day. Speaking of every day, shout out to my every dayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday Couldn't do it without you guys if you aren't an everydayer you need to be one because this time of year There's always breaking news the draft is right around the corner There's so much to go over and you want to make sure that you are as Informed as you could possibly be as a Tennessee Titans fan and you're gonna be able to do that here with the Locked on Titans Podcast but with that being said again, I want to go over my biggest winners and losers. And look, I got to start with the big losers here because Will

Starting point is 00:01:49 Levis is by far the biggest loser of free agency so far. Okay. And it's because it is clear that the Tennessee Titans want to take cam ward at number one overall in the NFL draft. And we continue to hear it from everywhere. Now, as I said before, this is either the greatest acting job by Mike Borganzi that we will ever see. This is, you know, Leonardo DiCaprio and the Revenant. You know, this is just a magical performance of which we will never see the likes of again, give that man the Oscar. But I don't believe that. I don't believe

Starting point is 00:02:23 that this is all a massive ruse that the Tennessee Titans are trying to play to get the Giants to give even more to trade up. I'm sorry, I don't buy it at this point. What I've heard, what we've read, what we've seen, the Titans are going to draft Cam Ward number one overall. And with that being the case, Will Levis obviously is a big loser because he is no longer considered the future at quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. Like that is a driven home point this off season. And now, as we talked about on yesterday's show, we're starting to hear trade noise about Will Levis.

Starting point is 00:02:54 And as I said on yesterday's show, the Tennessee Titans must trade Will Levis if they intend to draft cam ward number one overall, it has to happen. Now I wouldn't expect it to happen until the NFL draft until that weekend, but regardless, Will Levis was drafted in the second round, traded up for and drafted in the second round. He went into last season expecting to be the franchise quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. In his mind, he still thinks he is a franchise quarterback in the NFL. And at the end of the day, this all season will take that opportunity away from him. And who knows if he's ever able to get it back.

Starting point is 00:03:29 So with that in mind, there's no other way to slice it. Will Levis is a big loser from this free agency period. Now, the other big loser that I have here. Is Abdul Carter. Abdul Carter wants to be the number one pick in the draft. And again, like we just talked about, I believe that Cam Ward will be the number one pick for the Tennessee Titans. That is my expectation and that is my belief. And the way that I discuss this all season and all of these moves will be colored through that lens.

Starting point is 00:04:02 The Titans are taking Cam Ward, folks. Alright, so if you're Abdul Carter, you're a big loser here because you wanted to go number one overall. You were tweeting about going number one overall. Harold Landry gets cut and you're tweeting about it. Like it's clear Abdul Carter wants to go number one overall and I don't blame him.

Starting point is 00:04:16 I would want to go number one overall if I was a highly competitive, highly productive college athlete. But you're not going number one overall Abdul Carter. So you're a loser in this and on the same vein, folks who wanted to trade back, which includes me, I'm a big loser in this process. I wanted to trade back for the Tennessee Titans. I wanted to collect more draft capital.

Starting point is 00:04:36 I wanted to take Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter at number three and never look back. Now, as I have said throughout the entire all season, I'm perfectly fine if the Titans decide to go with one of the quarterbacks. I mean, quarterback is too important. If they believe in one of those guys, they got to take them. So I'm not mad about it, but the reality is if you're someone who is just totally out on quarterback, you're not open-minded to it at all. You don't have the ability to live with that decision and you're just gung-ho.

Starting point is 00:05:06 They got to trade back. If they don't, I'm going to be pissed. Well, you're a big loser. You lost. You lost the game. All right. You lost. They're not trading back.

Starting point is 00:05:16 They're not taking Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter. They're not taking Chadeur Sanders. They're taking Cam Ward number one overall. And if you're somebody who didn't want that to happen, who does not want that to happen, you lost. You lost. So deal with your emotions now, pick yourself up and get on the Cam Ward trade and support your starting quarterback in the future of your franchise.

Starting point is 00:05:37 But outside of all things related to quarterback, another big loser is Brian Callahan. And let me explain this. So while I think that cam ward is what's best for the Tennessee Titans future. At this point, it's not best for the future of Brian Callahan because Brian Callahan needs to win games this year to save his job. I'm sorry. I do not believe that Brian Callahan has been given a pass. I do not believe that Brian Callahan has been reassured that he will not get

Starting point is 00:06:17 fired if he has a bad season. That did not happen. I do not believe that. I don't believe that's coming. That did not happen. I do not believe that. I don't believe that's coming. And the reality is, is that a rookie quarterback on a team with, we hope is an improved offensive line, but I doubt the offensive line will be elite.

Starting point is 00:06:36 And then a weapons group that is no less than below league average. Okay. A rookie quarterback with a below average offensive talent level. Probably not going to win you very many games Brian Callahan. If the Titans would have went out and got a veteran quarterback. I think that there's a chance that Brian Callahan could have saved his job. But the odds of Cam ward and the offense playing well enough this year to win enough games and for cam ward to look good enough for Brian Callahan to keep his job, I am very, very skeptical.

Starting point is 00:07:22 So in my book, we heard from all of the local folks... Brian Callahan wanted Sam Darnall. He didn't get him. He wanted the veteran quarterback. Because winning with a rookie is difficult. So, Brian Callahan is a big loser of this offseason so far. And then my final loser is the tackles. NPF, Jalen Duncan, you're done.

Starting point is 00:07:50 You're done. You're absolutely done, which they should have been. You know, quite frankly, they were losers before. Look, that's wrong. I shouldn't say that. They made it to the NFL, high level professional athletes. I would do despicable things to have been talented enough and quite frankly big enough too small to be an NFL level player Even if I was a bad NFL player, I'm an NFL player. I ain't a loser in life. I won baby. So

Starting point is 00:08:16 ultimately winners but Again, the hopes the NPF or Jalen Duncan could turn into a starting offensive tackle. They're done. They lost it's over. Quite frankly, cut both of them. I like, I don't understand how the Titans could pay NPF $3 million. I would imagine that after they go into the draft and see what the roster looks like, we get that cut a little bit later, but NPF and Duncan shouldn't even be on this football team by the time we get to training camp.

Starting point is 00:08:44 So big losers in my opinion. But with that being said, who won? Who are the winners here? Traylon Burks. I'm looking at you. Today's episode is brought to you by Upwork. Scaling your business requires the right expertise at the right time. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more experts to help you take your business to the next level.

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Starting point is 00:11:29 Now we'll get to the winners and then I'll get to the biggest remaining questions for the Titans at the end of the show to kind of cap off this week. You want to thank you again though, for making the Locked on Titans podcast, your first listen each and every day. Remember Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. But my big winner is J.C. Latham. So you could say that I honestly had J.C. Latham in the losers

Starting point is 00:12:03 and then I moved him back to the winners because Latham is switching to right tackle, which means that him as a left tackle failed. Like that's the only way that we could put that him as a left tackle failed. Moving him to right tackle is an acknowledgement that, okay, JC Latham is not a left tackle. That's, that's an acknowledgement that, okay, J.C. Latham is not a left tackle. That's an acknowledgement of that. But we just saw Pen A. Sewell get a massive deal, the biggest offensive tackle deal at right tackle.

Starting point is 00:12:34 And J.C. Latham is ultimately a better right tackle. That is what we have learned from this all season, is the Tennessee Titans have looked at the tape, Bill Callahan has looked at the tape. Bill Callahan has looked at the tape, looked at the offensive line and said, JC Latham would be a better right tackle than he is a left tackle. And putting JC Latham at his best position is great for JC Latham. He's going to be able to play his best. He isn't going to be tested as much. People always say, Oh, well now good pass rushers rush on both sides

Starting point is 00:13:06 Left tackle is still slightly more important and you have to be slightly more athletic To play left tackle then right tackle right tackle is still super important And I agree that there are good pass rushers on both sides But left tackle because it's the blind side of the quarterback will always be slightly more important than right tackle No matter what happens with anything else the nature of the human anatomy is what makes left tackle more important than right tackle. No matter what happens with anything else, the nature of the human anatomy is what makes left tackle more important than right tackle. And that's not changing anytime soon. So with that in mind, again, JC Latham, big, big winner here.

Starting point is 00:13:37 I think that JC Latham, JC Latham probably be a pretty, a pretty good left tackle. I think last year he was like the 20th best left tackle in the NFL, in my opinion, 20 to 25, somewhere in there rookie that's expected. I think he probably would have gotten to a pro bowl level left tackle. Top 10. You know what I mean? But I think he could be a top five right tackle. And when you pair him with Kevin Zeitler on that side, a veteran now, instead of having Skoronsky and Latham together, who are both young players.

Starting point is 00:14:09 Now you have Skoronsky with Moore, who's been in the NFL for four years, and you have Zeitler and Latham. And Zeitler has been in the NFL for 14 years or whatever. So now you have a veteran paired next to a young guy. And I think that that makes a ton of sense at the end of the day for the Tennessee Titans and JC Latham can get a monster payday at right tackle. He could be the best version of himself. So I think he is a big time winner here. I also think Jarvis Brownlee Jr. Jarvis Brownlee Jr.

Starting point is 00:14:42 Is a clear winner here with Cheeto Owuzie A being cut. Like it's not even close. JBJ is a huge winner. He's going to get an opportunity to be a starting quarterback next year or a cornerback next year. So I just think that when you look at the cornerback position and you have Roger McCreary in the slot, you have Snead on the outside. Now you have JBJ on the outside. You're giving Jarvis Brownlee Jr., who was a fifth round pick last year, an opportunity to be an NFL starter for three years before he gets his contract. That's a monster win for a fifth round pick. How many fifth round picks out there get the opportunity to be an unquestioned starter?

Starting point is 00:15:28 in year two Not very many chicken concho was one of them, but you know I just think that jarvis brownlee jr. And the faith that the titans have shown in him right now Like he is a massive winner, maybe the biggest winner so far of the Tennessee Titans all season. Like Jarvis Brownlee Jr. is a starting level corner. He might be your number one corner by this time next year. And like I said, I've been teasing it all show, Traylon Burks, Traylon Burks is a massive, massive winner. All the Titans have done is add Van Jefferson. No matter what the Titans do here. Look, I have continued to say that I think the Tennessee Titans

Starting point is 00:16:12 should go into the veteran free agent market and they should sign one of those veterans. And one of those veterans, one of those veterans and one of those veterans like Amari Cooper, like Kenan Allen, like well, Mike Williams has gone now. Stefan Diggs, Stefan Diggs is now meeting with the New England Patriots though. But I guess my overall point here is if the Titans could get one of those veteran wide receivers, that's what I want. But if they don't get them and they go into the draft, I mean, they're going to take Cam Ward number one overall. Maybe they trade down in the second round, but who's truly going to be available in the NFL draft for the Tennessee Titans that can make a massive difference in year one? in the NFL draft for the Tennessee Titans that can make a massive difference in year one.

Starting point is 00:17:14 Who? I just, I don't see it. I don't see it. So if there isn't sufficient help in the draft and the Titans aren't going to go out and get one of these veteran wide receivers and all they've signed is Van Jefferson. Well I mean, who's going to play wide receiver? You have Calvin Ridley, Bryce Oliver, Van Jefferson, Jaquan Jackson. Like what are we doing here? You know? So that creates an incredible opportunity for Traylen Berks once again. Now I'm not saying that I think Traylen Berks is going to take advantage of the opportunity, but at the end of the day, he's got that opportunity. So if the Titans don't cut him and they actually go into the season with Traylon Burks as their wide receiver too. I mean, you couldn't, for him to be in year four and what he's done so far and to still get an

Starting point is 00:18:17 opportunity like this, I mean, that is crazy, crazy to me. So there's no other way around it. Traylen Burke's is a massive winner here. My final big winner is the rookie linebackers, James Williams and Cedric Gray. The Titans bring in Cody Barton. I'm like, okay, Cody Barton and Kenneth Murray. They wanted two veteran linebackers, makes sense. But then they trade Kenneth Murray.

Starting point is 00:18:44 So now one of Cedric Gray or James Williams, maybe you throw Otis Reese in there, he wasn't a rookie last year, but he's still a young player. One of those linebackers is going to have the opportunity to step up and be a starter this year. So the fact that they traded away Kenneth Murray, that made that very clear. They need one of their young linebackers to step up and now it looks like they're going to be given the opportunity to do so. That's a massive win for those young players, especially after the ups and downs of last year. So those are my winners, Latham and JBJ and Traylon Burks and the rookie linebackers. Now we need to go into the biggest remaining questions for the Tennessee Titans going forward with the rest of the off season.

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Starting point is 00:20:16 We talked about my big losers, my big winners and free agency so far. Now we need to look at the big remaining questions for the Tennessee Titans. Before I dive in though, do want to thank you again for making locked on Titans. Your first listen each and every day. Remember Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed for your second listen.

Starting point is 00:20:34 Check out locked on NFL. I'm the host of locked on NFL for the locked on podcast network. You get your Titans news here with me in under 30 minutes. Get your NFL news with me and under 30 minutes with locked on NFL. It's free and available on all platforms. But the Tennessee Titans right now have about $38 million in salary cap space. I wanted to do a financial episode, but we still don't have the contract numbers for Xavier Woods and we don't have the new contract numbers for Julius Chestnut,

Starting point is 00:20:58 which I think Chestnut's going to be like one year under $2 million. It's going to be like one, $ 1.5, $1.7 million. So that's not that big of a deal, but the Xavier Woods contract is two, excuse me, two years, 10 million and how they divvy out the bonus and what the salary cap hit that does matter. I said on yesterday's show, I think it was, or it could have been the show before that, that I thought the Titans would have 33 to $36 million after we got all the contract details in where they're at 38 million right now with Woods and Chestnut to go.

Starting point is 00:21:30 So they are most certainly going to be in the 33 to $36 million range of salary cap, just like I projected before we even knew a bunch of these contracts. But either way, that's enough money to continue to make moves. And there are some good remaining free agents. Uh, they need help at wide receiver. They need help at edge. Um, obviously we've talked about some of the names. Rondale Moore was a guy we talked about yesterday, but Ronda more went and

Starting point is 00:21:56 signed with the Minnesota Vikings. I'm not even mad about that. It had to be a medical thing. He did four different visits to check medicals and one team decided to offer him. So I'm not that mad about that, but. Stefan digs, Kenan Allen, Amari Cooper, DJ, Chark, uh, Tyler Lockett, Elijah Moore, Josh Reynolds, Terrence Marshall, Marshall and Reynolds are very low on the list. They're van Jefferson type.

Starting point is 00:22:19 So I doubt they go there, but they need to make another move out wide receiver. They can't just draft the guy and say that that's the group. And then at edge, Zedaria Smith, Charles, a many, you Dennis Garda, um, Travis Gibson, maybe Von Miller, Matthew, Jude on Preston Smith. Like those are not great options. I admit, but like, let's get one of these veterans in here. And then of course the Titans have to add some depth that linebacker

Starting point is 00:22:44 tight end running back. Will they do that in veteran free agency? Will they decide to do that in the draft for running back now with Julius chestnut back? You have to draft a running back. Like you have to draft a running back in this good running back class to add depth there. I think that would be a great, great move.

Starting point is 00:23:01 And like I said yesterday, I thought Julius chestnut was only signed to give competition to that drafted running back for the RB three spot. And then of course the quarterback spot. Are the Titans going to make another QB move? Are they going to trade for Kirk Cousins? Are they going to trade Will Levis? Will they, you know, surprise us and do something crazy? I don't think so. Again, I've said it on this episode, I've said it previous episodes, gonna keep saying it. Cam Ward is your quarterback. And I don't think the Titans add a quarterback at all until they get to the draft and they draft Cam Ward number one and then they trade Levis.

Starting point is 00:23:34 And they have Cam Ward and Brandon Allen. But who knows, maybe, you know, Cam Ward has bad tweets from when he was 13 or something and now he drops in the draft. Like we don't know what could play out, but I guess I don't expect the Titans to make another move at quarterback anytime soon, even though that's, you know, the question still remains, what are they doing at quarterback? But I personally think that we already have our answer, but with that being

Starting point is 00:24:04 said, that is going to do it for today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. I'll be back with you guys on Monday, mock draft Monday. And we're trading back in the second round after taking Cam Ward, 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.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans WINNERS & LOSERS: Levis Loses Big, Treylon Burks Survives & Big Questions Remaining

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