Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans CUT Julio Jones -- What Now?? TE Market Dries Up & 2022 Compensatory Picks Awarded

Episode Date: March 17, 2022

The Tennessee Titans cut wide receiver Julio Jones on Wednesday in a somewhat shocking move. Why did they do it and what does it mean going forward? Tyler has you covered from all angles! Next, the Titans made another special teams signing with Trenton Cannon joining. How does he fit and does he solve any issues? Finally, 2022 compensatory draft picks were awarded by the NFL and the Titans received two extra picks. What are comp picks, how did the Titans get them? Tyler explains!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. 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, it is a Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. On today's show, the Titans cut Julio Jones. I'm going to tell you exactly what that means for the Titans, not only on the field, but also financially, and tell you why I'm not certain that was the right move. Also, the Titans made a signing on Wednesday.

We'll talk about who that was. We'll also spin it forward, talk about some positions that are drying up pretty quickly on the free agent market and what the Titans have options wise going forward. And then we'll also touch on two compensatory draft picks that the Titans were awarded going into the 2022 draft. So a jam-packed Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it! Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast.

Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day. Your team, every day. Titans fans, it is a Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're going to kick the show off talking about the Tennessee Titans cutting wide receiver Julio Jones, and I'm going to tell you guys why I think it may not have been the best decision, but we'll talk about that some more after I thank you guys why I think it may not have been the best decision, but we'll talk about that some more after. I 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. You're going to find the Locked on Titans podcast everywhere and always free Monday through Friday daily Tennessee Titans content hosted by myself, Tyler Rowland, 20-plus-year Tennessee Titans fan with a focus on the X's and O's. So make sure you check out the Locked on Titans podcast everywhere, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Smash that notification bell.

Hit that thumbs-up button if you're watching right now. Check me out on Twitter at TicTacTitans, on Facebook at LockedOnTitansPod. But with the housekeeping out of the way, let's dive into this Julio Jones news. So a surprising move, no way around it, from the Tennessee Titans to cut Julio Jones, at least from my perspective. Yes, it was an up and down first season, and let's just call it what it is, mostly down. But Julio Jones did have some good moments. He helped the Titans big time in the first half against Seattle in week two,

made some good plays against the Buffalo Bills in a Monday night football win, also had his best games of the season in the last two games of the year, week 18 against the Texans, and then in the playoff game against the Bengals where he had over 60 yards and really helped the Titans out there. So I thought that there might be some hope for Julio going into the next season, get some more chemistry with Ryan Tannehill, maybe manage the hamstring a little bit better, get a little bit better luck in the injury department from Julio Jones.

And maybe just maybe the trade would work out a little bit better for the Titans in year two. But that did not end up being the case. The Titans decided to cut bait right now, and what they did was they designated Julio Jones as a post-June 1st cut. What does that mean? Well, the NFL uses June 1st as kind of a fork in the road from the previous year's cap to this year's cap,

and after June 1st, a player like Julio Jones being cut or being traded would save the Titans much more money than if they cut him now. So the NFL has a loophole in the rules where basically you can designate a player as a post-June 1st cut, but cut them right now. And quite honestly, the rule just benefits the player. Basically, the Titans are allowing Julio Jones to go out into the free agent market and look for a new team while there are actually teams looking to get new players in the free agency market

during free agency. This doesn't really help the Titans at all right now financially. The cap savings that the Titans are going to get from this, which because it is a post-June 1st cut, it's going to save the Titans around $9-10 million. If the Titans were to just cut Julio Jones right now, they'd have $13 million in dead cap and only get $1 million in cap savings. This way, they minimize the dead cap. They save $9 million and some change on the cap. But again,

those savings do not kick in until June 1st. And financially speaking, yeah, that's a little bit rough. But the more rough part about it is in 2023, the Titans will now have $8.3 million in dead cap. In 2023, they'll pay $8 million on the salary cap for Julio Jones. So that hurts a lot. But a lot of people will look at it and say because it's a post-June 1st cut and they don't get the money until after June 1st, that's terrible. That's awful.

But the reality here is the Titans are going to take that $9-10 million that they get on June 2nd after June 1st, and they're going to use that money for regular season transactions. Think about signing Deontay Foreman, signing Dontrell Hilliard, Adrian Peterson, having money in the regular season to play with. And the Titans can use that $9 million and change on their draft class and hold off signing their draft class until June. So, excuse me. The financial impact this year, the Titans are still going to be able to use that money in a productive way going forward, but really $8.3 million in dead cap in 2023 is the financial burden that does hurt quite a bit. On the football field is where I really have the biggest issue here. So the Titans

general manager, John Robinson, and head coach Mike Rabel have said throughout this offseason, they need to be better around Ryan Tannehill. Better around Ryan Tannehill. Well, so far, to be better around Ryan Tannehill, the Titans have cut their wide receiver two. They cut their starting left guard. They re-signed only

Jeff Swaim, who, as we'll talk about a little bit later in the show, looking like he could be the Titans' tight end one going forward and going into the draft, which could be very, very concerning. But the reality is, and patience is key, John Robinson may have something up his sleeve,

and quite frankly, he better. And we'll talk more about that in just a second. But right now, the offense is significantly worse. And I am disappointed because in my opinion, the right way to be better around Ryan Tannehill is to sign a mid-tier, better veteran, tight end one, like a Tyler Conklin, like a Gerald Everett, like a Kyle Rudolph, somewhere in there, maybe an Austin Hooper who was just cut by the Browns. And get a veteran wide receiver like a Will Fuller,

like a Juju Smith-Schuster somewhere in there. And, and draft a wide receiver probably first round and a tight end in the mid rounds. I thought all of that is how you get better

around Ryan Tannehill. The Titans may make a move for a wide receiver. They may draft one, who knows. But at this point in time, I think not having Julio Jones there and not really having an avenue to adequately replace him right now as things stand is not doing what we've been told by the coach and the general manager that the goal of this all season was going to be. They're not executing doing what we've been told by the coach and the general manager that the goal of this offseason was going to be. They're not executing on what we have been told. And there's still time.

And quite frankly, right now, with what we've seen, there has to be another big move for the Titans. Either they're going to go out and sign Allen Robinson. They're going to trade for Brandon Cooks. They're going to trade for Tyler Lockett or DK Metcalf. They're going to make a move of some kind. They have to. There's no way that this Julio Jones move makes sense right now if it is not one step that's followed up by a

second step that turns into the Titans getting significantly better at wide receiver. If the Titans say go sign Juju Smith-Schuster and then they draft a wide receiver with their first round pick, okay, but the reality here is J-Rob hasn't been great with first round picks recently and high draft picks. They haven't produced right away. So now we're counting on him not only to hit on the player

but also for Mike Vrabel's staff to utilize a rookie and get a rookie in there correctly. I wanted Julio Jones, A.J. Brown, and another veteran wide receiver and a draft pick. Now it feels like you're taking one step back. Even if you take one step forward, you're still just getting to even. So that's concerning to me. Now, of course, again, this whole entire conversation

has to have the background thought of patience. It's early in free agency. John Robinson should have a plan. He has to this point, and we've trusted him, so you have to continue to do that. But I'm just not going to fault any Titans fan for feeling a little uneasy right now, especially with what we saw go off the board with tight ends

and the position that the Titans are in right now. So basically, the need for wide receiver has drastically gone up now for the Titans. I mean, it is a F5 tornado. It is a full-blown fire alarm. It is panic mode at wide receiver right now. Stay patient. I expect another big move. But right now, as they sit, the Titans

don't get any cap savings until January the 1st and after January the 2nd, which they can use for their draft picks and stuff, but it doesn't help them now. They have no second rounder in the draft for absolutely nothing. And then the huge dead cap hit in 2023.

So, again, unless the Titans make a big time trade or they sign Allen Robinson, this move seems strange to me. No way around it. And that's just how I'm feeling right now. We're going to talk more about what the Titans have done today, what the Titans didn't do today, which today when I'm recording is Wednesday. And we'll talk more about what they can do going forward as well. Before we get into that, I want to tell you guys about BetOnline.net. It's that time of year again. College basketball's tournament is finally upon us for all the latest odds,

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BetOnline, where the game starts. all the action. BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, let's continue this Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We just talked about the Titans cutting Julio Jones, what that means going forward, my feelings on that. Now, I want to talk about another move the Titans made on Wednesday, but really I want to spend most of the time talking about moves that they haven't made so far and moves that they can make going forward. So, number one, before we get into that, I want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. I am hosting the Locked on NFL National Show today.

I would appreciate if you guys went and checked that out as your second listen. You get all your Titans news here with me, but get all of your NFL National News in under 30 minutes every day with the Locked On NFL Podcast. It's free and available on whatever platform you do stream, and that includes the Locked On NFL YouTube channel. Please go subscribe over there and show your boys some love. I would appreciate it.

But moving forward here. So the Titans also made a signing on Wednesday. They signed running back Trenton Cannon, who recently played for the San Francisco 49ers. I'm just really not going to sugarcoat it at all, guys. Trenton Cannon's a special teamer. I saw some people say that he has the potential to be, you know, a third down running back for the Titans.

Well, I call BS on that. Trenton Cannon is not a third down back. His high for catches and his entire career is 17 for 144 yards and no touchdowns and that came in his rookie season in 2017. He only has three catches since then. Since he caught zero passes last year, he's a kick returner.

Now, he's a decent kick returner, no doubt about it. And maybe, you know, he develops into a little bit more. But I'm not going to sit here and act like any of the Titans' backup running back issues are solved, because they're not. Trenton Cannon may not even make the roster. So that's a nothing deal to me. That's AJ Moore that we talked about before. That a special teamer who might make the roster has zero impact on how I feel about the offseason so far. I don't feel like anything was

accomplished with Trenton Cannon other than getting a decent kickoff returner. But quite frankly, I'm not really satisfied with Trenton Cannon as a kickoff returner either. He's not special. I will say that he was the second place kick returner in the NFC for the Pro Bowl last year. So yeah, he's pretty good. He's pretty good, but I don't know. It doesn't really do much for how I'm feeling right now is basically what I'm saying. He could be a very good player and a very good special teams contributor, but the Titans haven't had a good special teams unit in years.

So why do I think them putting a premium on special teams players early in free agency like they did with A.J. Moore, is going to do anything. Where do I see the impact? I don't. I don't, quite frankly. So, Trenton Cannon on the Titans, might make the roster, might not. Kickoff returner, special teamer, move on. Whatever.

But going forward, the next thing that I want to talk about here is the tight end position for the Titans. to talk about here is the tight end position for the Titans. So we saw a couple of tight ends come off the board on Wednesday and I can't lie to you guys, it hurts me. So my expectations for tight end have been pretty low throughout. I've talked about Gerald Everett and Tyler Conklin and Kyle Rudolph and Austin Hooper, maybe a Hayden Hurst thrown in there. Like, I'm talking about the mid-tier guys. I've been saying all along, don't want Gasicki.

Dalton Schultz probably not going to be available. David Njoku probably not going to be available. So I've been realistic about tight end. And I've preached patience all week long about the tight end position. I defended the Jeff Swaim signing as well because I knew that the Titans are going to be, I thought the Titans are going to be putting him in tight end three territory where he belongs. A secondary tight end in the run game on rundowns, a non-factor in passing downs, a tight end three that functions as a tight end two within the heavy personnel and 12 personnel packages. There's a role there.

Role players are very important. Just the most casual fans that I talk to just don't understand the value of these role players. So I defended the Swain deal. But the Titans saw O.J. Howard, who I wasn't very high on, but I know a lot of you guys were. O.J. Howard go off the board

and go to the Buffalo Bills for $3.5 million. Pretty much the same deal as Jeff Swain. And then, what really broke me was what happened right before I got on to record. The Jets signed Tyler Conklin, who has been my number one option. the Jets signed Tyler Conklin, who has been my number one option. They signed C.J. Uzama, too,

who I thought was another good option for the Titans. I mean, basically, out of the tight ends that I actually like, because I'm not a Hayden Hurst guy, he's not a good blocker at all. I mean, there's Gerald Everett, who... Gerald Everett is more of a move tight end than a tight end one. So, Gerald Everett, Kyle Rudolph, and Austin Hooper are really the only logical names that I see out there. I mean, look at some of the guys that are available right now.

I'll go through the list. Austin Hooper, Jimmy Graham is not the tight end the Titans need right now. Rob Gronkowski, he's going back to Tampa Bay. That news came out today in a video as well, so the hits just keep on coming. Eric Ebron, no. Kyle Rudolph, okay, but 32. Gerald Everett, 27.

I like that. But Blake Jarwin coming off a big-time injury. Jared Cook, not going to block a lick, no. Robert Tunyon had one good year of production coming off a major injury at 27 years old. Never really done anything in that one year. Not a good blocker. And then we're back to Anthony Fergser, Lee Smith, Hayden Hurst, Tyler Croft, Jesse James, Levine Toilolo, Ross Dwelly. I mean, what are we talking about here? So I'm going to continue to have patience, but at this time, it looks like Jeff Swain is going to be tight end one going

into the draft. And you may like a tight end in the draft. You may love a tight end in the draft, but guess what? Rookie tight ends never come in and are ready to be tight end in the draft. But guess what? Rookie tight ends never come in and are ready to be tight end ones. Yeah, look at Kyle Pitts and TJ Hawkinson. Sure, top 10 picks. Guess who doesn't have a top 10 pick? The Titans. I said this yesterday.

So you're talking about, and the Titans don't have a pick between 26 and 90. Where did all the decent tight ends get taken last year? Basically, in that range. Brevin Jordan lasted a little bit longer but the Titans didn't want him either and picked

Des Fitzpatrick. So whatever. What I'm saying is the odds of the tight end the odds of any tight end in this draft class being what the Titans need at tight end one right now is incredibly low. The odds of the Titans having a chance to get a tight end worth that is incredibly low because a lot of them are going to go between 26 and 90.

And the Titans have to now because of letting go of Julio Jones, the Titans have to draft a wide receiver at 26. They have pigeonholed themselves into that position. So you can't take a tight end at 26. There isn't a tight end worth it at 26. They have pigeonholed themselves into that position. So you can't take a tight end at 26. There isn't a tight end worth it at 26. And if you trade back from 26 to get a tight end, now you're missing on any reliable wide receiver that can actually help.

So patience, yes. But I mean, I'm just running out of realistic and logical things that can happen. At this point, we're waiting for some big home run move like Allen Robinson or a trade for DJ Metcalf or Tyler Lockett or Brandon Cooks, guys that I mentioned earlier. So outside of like this crazy unpredictable trade where the Titans literally signing the best free agent wide receiver on the market and giving out a big money deal,

what move could be made to significantly change and make the Titans offense better than they were and be better around Ryan Tannehill? Not much. Not much. Not much. Especially at tight end. So, yeah, we can have patience

and I've been preaching patience, but something's got to happen soon, especially at tight end. I am concerned. I am a tad concerned. So, hoping for an Allen Robinson deal, hoping for a big trade for a wide receiver, and hoping for it soon.

That's all I can tell you. That's all I got right now. But to cap off the show, let's talk about compensatory draft picks. I'm going to explain what they are, how the Titans got them, have a little visual aid for you guys that I think will help explain

how these things are divvied out. So excited to dive into that. Before we get into it, do want to tell you guys about rockauto.com. rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving do-it-yourselfers for over 20 years. They have everything you could possibly need for your vehicle on their online catalog. Brake parts, tail lamps, motor oil, even brand new carpet.

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about us box so they know that we sent you amazing selection, reliably low prices, all of the parts your car will ever need. RockAuto.com. Titans fans, let's cap off this Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast talking about comp picks and the two that the Titans received for the 2022 NFL draft. Before we get into that, I do got to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. As for your second listen or your third listen, check out the Locked on NFL Draft podcast. It's hosted by Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker.

They're breaking down the draft from two perspectives, checking out the prospects, of course, but also looking at things from a front office view. It's free and available on all platforms. two perspectives, checking out the prospects, of course, but also looking at things from a front office view. It's free and available on all platforms. Check out the Locked On NFL Draft podcast. But we talked about Julio Jones getting cut, my thoughts on that. We talked about where the Titans are at in free agency right now in the signing of Trenton Cannon.

Now I want to get into the comp picks that the Titans received on Wednesday, and a lot of people ask me a lot of questions about compensatory draft picks. So let me put it this way. Basically, teams are rewarded with draft picks from the third to the seventh round when they lose certain free agents. Like, for example, Roger Saffold does not count in the compensatory pick formula because the Titans released him willingly. But if you lose a free agent when their contract expires

and you can't resign, I'm like basically if Harold Landry would have left the Titans, he would have netted the Titans a compensatory draft pick. At least would have been part of the plus side of the formula. So a compensatory draft pick is given to a team when they lose a homegrown free agent or lose their own free agent to another team. And what happens is they take all the players that you lose and all the players that you sign in that year in free agency. And they do a cancel out situation where they cancel out guys who are similar ranges in price and snap counts. And then whoever is left, if you have lost more guys than you've gained,

then you get picks for those guys. And I'm going to give you an actual visual representation for the YouTube crowd right now. So if you're watching on YouTube, here it comes. If you're listening to the podcast audio-wise, check out the YouTube page. And you can see it there late in the show. But here it is. It's up in front of you right now.

So this is 2021's offseason for the Titans. On the left-hand side, you will see all of the free agents that the Titans lost that count towards the formula. Number one, Jonu Smith, $12.5 million a year on his new contract, that is worth a fourth round compensatory

pick, Corey Davis, same thing $12.5 million a year on his deal, that's a fourth round pick so that's two fourth round picks for the Titans, Jadavion Clowney left for a $9 million contract that is a fifth round level contract.

So now you got two fourths and a fifth for John U, Corey, and Clowney respectively. Then the Titans got two sixth round picks from losing Daquan Jones at $4 million and Desmond King at $3.5 million. So that's two fourths, a fifth, and two sixths. Then you look at who the Titans gained in free agency. You have Bud Dupree at 16.5 million, which is a fourth round pick. You have

Danico Autry at 7 million. That's a fifth round pick. You have Kendall Lamb at 3.4 million. That is a seventh round pick. So now it's all about canceling each other out. So Jonu Smith and Corey Davis were both fourth round picks. Bud Dupree was a fourth round pick. Those cancel out, which leaves just one fourth round pick. Jonu and Dupree cancel out, and the Titans get rewarded for Corey Davis. Then Danico Autry and Jadavion Clowney who are both fifth round picks

cancel out. So nothing there. Then you have Daquan Jones as a sixth round pick and Desmond King as a sixth round pick. Desmond King and Kendall Lamb cancel each other out and Daquan Jones as a sixth round pick remains so the Titans are rewarded with that.

Now here is the key. Because Kevin Johnson retired last year. He didn't count towards the free agents that the Titans gained. So if Kevin Johnson wouldn't have retired. He would have canceled out Desmond King. Kendall Lamb would have canceled out Desmond King, Kendall Lamb would have canceled out Daquan Jones, and the Titans only would have gotten a compensatory pick for Corey Davis in the fourth round. But because Kevin Johnson retired, he didn't ultimately count towards the Titans gained free

agents, which means that Corey Davis's fourth round pick and Daquan Jones' sixth round pick actually hold up for the Titans. Therefore, the Titans got rewarded an extra fourth and an extra sixth round pick as compensatory selections in those rounds. So if you're counting at home, that means that the Titans now have seven confirmed draft picks. Pick 26, pick 90, pick pick 131 pick 143 which is the fourth round comp pick pick 169 pick 204 and pick 219 which is the sixth round comp pick when you consider that they gave up a second round pick for Julio Jones and they gave up their seventh round pick in that

Isaiah Wilson trade. Those two picks, getting those back, were very, very important for the Titans. And as I talked about earlier, waiting from 26 all the way to 90 is going to be dangerous territory for the Titans. Maybe they can utilize some of their picks with those extra picks and go up in the draft to get somebody who can help this team out of position of need, which as it looks right now, looks like the Titans will have some significant holes to fill going into the draft.

So that's my thoughts on Julio Jones getting cut. That's two positions where the free agent market is drying up and the Titans are going to have to do something drastic. And that's the compensatory draft picks, how they work, what the Titans are getting, and showing an example for you guys of how it turned out. So I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. I waited a little bit longer to record tonight

because things are just getting crazy out there. I was getting ready to record right as the Julio Jones stuff happened, so I was a little spooked by that, decided to wait a little bit. I hope all you guys who try to listen to it as soon as it drops on Wednesday night, I hope you guys aren't mad at me for that. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. I'll be back with you to cap off the week, and hopefully we have some real Tennessee Titans roster-changing news to discuss.

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