Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Free Agency Recap: Ben Jones, Geoff Swaim, Jamarco Jones & What's Next!!

Episode Date: March 15, 2022

The Tennessee Titans got day one of Free Agency started with four moves! The Titans re-signed Ben Jones & Geoff Swaim while agreeing to terms with Jamarco Jones. The Titans also declined to tender David Quessenberry. What do these deals mean, how much are the for and what should be the Titans plan going forward? Tyler discusses to kick off today's show. Finally, what positions still need filled and what else happened in the crazy NFL world on Monday!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 Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And on today's show, the free agency frenzy has arrived. And day one included some moves from the Tennessee Titans. I'm going to tell you who the Titans signed, what moves they made. Also, we're going to take a look at what's on the horizon for the Titans. Now that we are into free agency, what spots do they still need to fill?

And then we'll cap off the show looking at some of the crazy moves around the NFL and what they can tell us about what the Titans should be looking at going forward. So all of that and more on a Tuesday 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. Every day. Titans fans, it is a Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Going to recap everything that took place during day one of free agency.

And of course, it is just the legal tampering period, which really doesn't make any sense at all. But we got a ton of NFL news, and that included some moves from the Tennessee Titans, including re-signing center Ben Jones. So I'm going to get into all of that with you guys. Before I do, I want to thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. I'm pumping out daily Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content here on the Locked on Titans podcast not only during the season

but all year long. Make sure that you check out the show on whatever platform you do stream. That includes the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe over there. Smash that notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching on YouTube right now but check me out on social media

on Twitter at TicTacTitans, on Facebook, at LockedOnTitansPod, and potentially the TicTacTitans TikTok could be coming soon. But we'll talk more about that later in the show. To start, what did the Titans do on day one of free agency? Well, so far, it's about 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time right now on Monday night. As a lot of you folks who listen to the show consistently know, I record the night before, so you have everything available for you when you wake up in the morning for your morning commute

and everything like that. But I'm almost guaranteeing that while I record this podcast, some big news is going to break. If it's big enough, I'll do an emergency podcast. So that's up for you guys as well. But I feel like it's about three or four shows in a row now where I've recorded something topical. And then the news that came out after I uploaded made it irrelevant. Like Rob Gronkowski going back to Tampa Bay, scratch that off yesterday's show. But hopefully, hopefully the Titans take a little bit of a break until Tuesday rolls around and we can have a full recap with no surprises here. But the full recap will start with re-signing Ben Jones. It was so important for the Titans to get back the heart of their offensive line.

The pivot man who's been with the team since John Robinson took over one of the best signings in Tennessee Titans history. Ben Jones was still super productive last year. He was graded out as a top 10 center in the NFL. He still understands the offense like the back of his hand. So Ben Jones, the chemistry on the offensive line, especially if you're going to replace right tackle, you're going to have a new left guard.

You need to try to minimize the damage in some way. Try to keep as much continuity together as you can. Taylor LeJuan, Ben Jones, Nate Davis. You get continuity on both sides of the offensive line, held together by continuity in the middle. Now you replace left guard with Dylan Radins or Aaron Brewer, what have you. You get a new right tackle in the fold, whether that's Radins over there or Brewer at left guard, a drafted rookie.

Either way, you didn't want to go into the draft needing to replace three to four offensive linemen. That just isn't what the Titans would be looking to do. So Ben Jones being back is great. What's the contract details? Two years, $14 million. Now, as I've been saying throughout the all season, my expectation is that the bonus money is set up

so that Ben Jones' cap hit in 2022 is only about $5 million, which would still help the Titans have some maneuverability. But when you look at some of the other contracts that got signed on Monday for centers and interior offensive linemen, we saw Ryan Jensen get $13 million average per year. We saw Alex Kappa get $10 million per year. We saw Brian Allen get $8 million a year to go back to the Rams. We saw Lankan Tomlinson get about $13 million a year as well. So when you look at all the price tags that I just mentioned,

all of them came in average value per season at higher than Ben Jones. So getting Ben Jones on a two-year $14 million deal, about $7 million per year, with probably a $5 to $4 million cap hit in year one, just an absolute steal. Probably one of the best values that took place on the entire market all day on Monday. I mean, unbelievable.

To see what some of the interior offensive linemen were getting and to see Ben Jones come in it right at 7 million. No way around it. That is a very, very team friendly deal, but that wasn't the only moves that the Titans made on the day. They brought back tight end Jeff Swaim on a one-year deal. Now in 2021, Jeff Swaim made about $2.4 million. I don't think it's going to be that high this time. He didn't deserve a pay raise or a pay bump. He deserved a decrease, quite frankly, and he's going to have a decrease in role this year as well. The Titans can't go into next year with Jeff Swain as their tight end one, but what they can do is they can go into next year with

Jeff Swain as their tight end three. Get a tight end one in free agency. Draft a tight end in the mid rounds of the draft and that is your new three tight end set with Swaim being a tight end three or you could look at him as that secondary blocking tight end which I think fits his role much much better than what he was asked to do last year. Swaim looked like a disappointment when you look at it from the sense of, oh, that's your tight end one. But if you put him back in the role that he should be in, which is a backup tight end,

Swain could be perfectly fine. So I like that the Titans brought him back on a one-year cheap deal, probably $2 million or less. So those are the first two moves that we saw from the Titans on the day. But also, the Titans did some other things and it leaves some other things in question. So we're going to talk about what

other moves the Titans made on Monday, two of them to discuss and where the Titans go from here in terms of depth. What do they need out of the free agency market? How can they get there? We're going to talk all about that here in just a moment. Before we get into it though, do 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, contests, player props. BetOnline.net is your number one source

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to learn more about all the trends and all the action. BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, let's continue this Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, breaking down all of the relevant information you need to know from Monday's opening free agency frenzy. I'm going to keep it 10 times 10 with you guys right now. I have my phone right here with me,

and I'm going full Adam Schefter, full Wojnarowski. I am making sure that I don't miss anything that pops up during this episode. If we have breaking news while I'm recording, I'm going to make sure I get to it. If it comes in after, well, dang it. That's all I can say about that. So I want to make sure I get the show up for you guys. I want to make sure I have as much information as I can, but if you ever see me glance over, I'm just trying to make sure I get the show up for you guys. I want to make sure I have as much information as I can, but if you ever see me glance over, I'm just trying to make sure I don't miss any pertinent information like this that just scrolled through.

Houston has declined Indianapolis' attempt to speak with Deshaun Watson. Houston is comfortable trading Watson, just not in the AFC South. Yes! Thank you, Houston. Let's go. You absolutely do not trade that man within division. Not happening. Don't give him to Indianapolis.

Don't do that. Good job, Houston. Great job. Might be the only time I said that all season. Good job, Houston. That's what we like to hear. But moving forward, what are the other moves that the Titans made?

They brought back Ben Jones. They brought back Jeff Swaim. They also added a free agent from a different team. That's right, a real free agent signing. And it was, drum roll please, it's a big one. Just kidding, Jamarco Jones. They signed Jamarco Jones from the Seattle Seahawks. And Jamarco Jones, listen, he's going to be filling the Kendall Lamb role. He's a

swing tackle. He's a versatile guy. He played guard on both sides of the line. He's played both tackle spots, played both guard spots, most recently played a lot of guard for Seattle in 2021. Had some good moments there. He actually started at guard against the Titans. He had some ups and downs. And Here's the reality. Jamarco Jones, like I said, a versatile guy who can play all along the offensive line. Got some good athleticism to him as well, but injuries. Injuries are the big issue. Jamarco Jones played 15 games in 2019, but only 11 games in 2020, and only 10 games in 2021.

So he is a guy who has shown flashes, but has dealt with injury concerns. And like I said, it's kind of like the new Kendall lamb. The deal is only two years, $5.75 million with $3.15 million upfront in 2022. So that means that's going to be bonus money, the $3 million, which is going to be spread out over the two years of the contract. So that's about 1.75, 1.7, maybe even a little less 1.6 million dollars in bonus money. His salary will probably be about a million dollars, I would imagine. So you're looking at paying about, you know, $2 million in cap hit this year and then non-guaranteed money next year other than just his bonus

so the Titans will probably be able to get off of him with only about, you know, a little over a million dollars in dead money next year. So it's basically the new Kendall Lamb. It's just exactly what the Titans did with Kendall Lamb. He's going to be that swing tackle. He can compete to start at right tackle. He can compete to start at right tackle.

He can also provide depth on the interior of the offensive line. Like I said, I had a lot of time playing guard as well. Heck, who knows? Maybe the Titans view Dylan Radins as the starting right tackle and they view Jamarco Jones as the starting left guard. I don't know. That could

be the case, but here's the way that I see it. The Titans need to have eight guys on the offensive line for the 53-man roster. That's typically what you'll see. You have your five starters, and then you have three backups. Well, if the Titans have Taylor LeJuan, Ben Jones, and Nate Davis, they have three of their five starters right there, and then they have Dylan Radins, Aaron Brewer, and Jamarco Jones. Well, that's six guys right there. So that's six of your eight guys. So, you know, you draft a guy, whether that be,

we'll know a lot about how they view Radins and how they view Jamarco Jones based on how they draft. If they draft a pure offensive tackle in the draft, well, then we know that they view Radins or Jones as a guard. We know that because they're not going to have three different offensive tackles. All, you know, your second round pick from last year, a decent draft pick in this year's draft. And then add Jamarco Jones. It's just not going to be the case.

So they're going to be two open spots. And we'll learn a lot by what they do there with those open spots. But this is the depth guy on the offensive line, the swing tackle, the backup guy, the new Kendall Lamb. And I think Jamarco Jones is a solid pickup at that point. You're going for depth. So as long as you don't break the bank, you have a guy who has reasonable NFL experience

who can fit in your system and play multiple spots. I think it's a very prudent move. So Jamarco Jones added to the Tennessee Titans on day one of free agency to go along with bringing back Ben Jones and Jeff Swain. The other bit of news isn't a cut, isn't a signing, but it's still

important nonetheless. And the Titans decided not to tender restricted free agent David Questenberry. A lot of people get on Questenberry's case, but here's the reality. Questenberry graded out as a top 10 run blocking offensive tackle last year.

He's a great run blocker. He's just awful in pass protection. He gave up a league high 11 sacks at right tackle. The Titans just simply can't have him be their starter. Now, whispers are, reports are, that the Titans would be open to bringing Questenberry back as a backup

for less money than $2.5 million. Basically, he was a restricted free agent. The Titans would have had to put a hold on him like, hey, $2.5 million is what his price tag is if we tender him. The Titans don't want to pay $2.5 million for David Questenberry,

as they shouldn't. So if they bring him back for $1.75 million to be that seventh offensive lineman, and then they draft an interior offensive lineman and the mid-rounds are high in the draft, now you have an eight-man group that's really solid, that I actually really like. So Questenberry, not tendered.

So the Titans are letting him go as a free agent into the market, but there's still a possibility the Titans will bring him back, but it has to be in a decreased role. It's similar to how I feel about Jeff Swaim. David Questenberry shouldn't have been the starter for the Titans last year.

He should have been their swing tackle, their depth guy, all along. And then, how would we have viewed him from that year. He should have been their swing tackle, their depth guy all along. And then, how would we have viewed him from that perspective? It would have been entirely different. Just like with Jeff Swain. He should have never been the Titans' number one tight end. That's not his fault. How would we have viewed Jeff Swain

if he wasn't put in that role? Probably how we viewed Jeff Swain after 2020. Dang, this guy's a really nice depth tight end. But you put him in a role that he's not made for, and all of a sudden he looks bad, and fans are crapping on him. That's how I feel about Questenberry too. He's not a bad player.

He's an NFL player. A guy who can give you tremendous depth, can be really good for you, but he's not a starter. And if you put him in that spot and he fails, it's not his fault. That's not what he was meant for. So, Questenberry, not tendered by the Titans as a restricted free agent, will be an unrestricted free agent going into the market,

but rumors are he could be brought back. So, Ben Jones re-signed. Two years, $14 million. Probably going to be about $5 million on the cap hit. Jeff Swain brought back for about one year $2 million or a little bit less. Waiting on the exact details there. Jamarco Jones, signed by the Titans

for two years, $5.75 million. Probably going to be about a million dollars on the cap this year, $2 million on the cap this year, and then no guaranteed money next year so the Titans can cut beta if they need to. And then Questenberry let go as an unrestricted free agent into the market with chances to come back. So that's all the moves that the Titans actually made up to this point. But what I want

to quickly go over to cap off today's show is what needs the Titans still have, who are some people who make sense at those spots that we've talked about. And then also some news from around the NFL that I think is pertinent or at least just at minimum interesting for the Titans. So we'll get into that before we do. I want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Rock Auto. You save time and money when you use rockauto.com because if you go to a chain auto parts store, you're going to have to wait in line.

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and when you place your order, make sure you write LOCKEDON in the how did you hear about us box so they know that we sent you amazing selection, reliably low prices, all of the parts your car will ever need. Brock. Oh, dot com. Titans fans, let's cap off this Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We've talked about the moves that the Titans have made on the first day of free agency.

Now I want to look at some moves that haven't been made yet that need to be made and look at some moves that were made by other teams around the NFL before we get into that. Do got to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen, make sure that you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. But as for that second listen, a ton of great content on the Locked on Network. The Locked on NFL show is on YouTube. It's free on whatever platform you do stream,

giving you all that national news that you need from the NFL in under 30 minutes Monday through Friday. It's going to be very important to listen to the Locked On NFL show on Tuesday after all those moves and free agency. And then make sure you check out the Locked On NFL Draft podcast as well, hosted by Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback Eric Crockers. They bring you both sides of the draft process. They talk about all the prospects, of course,

but also dive into the front office line of thinking. So check out the Locked On NFL podcast and the Locked On NFL Draft podcast on whatever platform that you do stream. And that includes, of course, YouTube as well. But diving in here. So the Titans brought back Ben Jones. They added offensive line depth with Jamarco Jones. The Titans brought back Jeff Swaim to give them one of three tight ends

that they're going to need. Outside of that, still need some more offensive line depth. Now, I would imagine the majority of that is going to be coming in the draft now, but they might sign another veteran guy for cheap like Questenberry or Dennis Kelly. So David Questenberry or Dennis Kelly, make that your seventh guy and then draft a rookie. I think that would be a great eight-man group on the offensive line.

I'd feel good about that going forward. Tight end one is still a need here, okay? Jeff Swaim, not tight end one. Ferkser's gone. I want the Titans to draft a tight end. Absolutely, draft a tight end. But I would like to see them still go into free agency and get a tight end one. You saw guys like Zach Ertz get about $10 million.

Will Disley get about $8 million. Mo Alley-Cox get about $6 million, but still left on the market are three guys I like a lot. Tyler Conklin, Gerald Everett, and Kyle Rudolph. So all those dudes could probably be had for around the Mo Alley-Cox price range, about $6 million a year. So I'd like to see the Titans get in on that market. Also, still need depth on the defense, especially I would like to see a veteran cornerback brought in.

A.J. Bouye was cut by the Carolina Panthers on Monday. So A.J. Bouye, who has history in Houston, history with Anthony Midgett, I think that would be a great fit to add a veteran. And look, you're not looking to have A.J. Boye be your starting outside corner. The writing's on the wall. Caleb Farley needs to be the Titans starting outside corner this year. But as a depth piece, as a fourth cornerback, as a fifth cornerback,

with a little bit of experience and wisdom in the locker room when you're going against guys who are all on their rookie contract like Caleb Farley, Christian Fulton, Elijah Moulton, Chris Jackson. They need a veteran in the room, and if Jack Rabbit Jenkins gets cut, then I think that A.J. Boye would be a great fit. And then finally, of course, wide receiver. And man, did we see some crazy stuff in the wide receiver market on Monday. We'll talk about that in just a second. But Jarvis Landry was cut on Monday. He could be an option. I've continued to bang the table for Juju Smith-Schuster. I think he'd be a perfect fit.

And coincidentally, the Titans have the best betting odds to sign Juju Smith-Schuster if he doesn't go back to Pittsburgh. The Titans are the frontrunner right now if he doesn't return to Pittsburgh. So that's very encouraging. And like I said, I'm going to start the TikTok Titans TikTok account if, in fact, Juju Smith-Schuster is signed by the Titans. So be on the lookout for that. Will Fuller is another guy who I think makes a lot of sense

for the Titans at wide receiver. That connection to Tim Kelly on offense in Houston, I think, could make a lot of sense. And Titans at wide receiver. That connection to Tim Kelly on offense in Houston, I think could make a lot of sense. And the Titans do need speed. So while there's risk involved with all three of those guys I just mentioned, I think they all are good fit for the Titans. So that's where the Titans are at right now. That's what needs, I still see remaining.

Maybe some backup running back could be floated in there, but we'll see how that goes. But as for the NFL at large, whoa. So the things that really stood out to me, Jacksonville continues to try to win the offseason every single year. They signed Aluakon at linebacker, Futakasi at defensive tackle.

They gave big, big money to Brandon Sheriff, the offensive guard, from Washington going to Jacksonville. They also just gave a one-year $10 million deal to Evan Ingram, while also giving $21 million a year to Christian Kirk. I mean, the deal, if you look at the real parts of the deal, the deal is basically two years for $40 million. But you're giving $20 million a year to Christian Kirk?

A.J. Brown was tweeting. Deebo Samuel was tweeting. Tyreek Hill was tweeting. All the receivers that actually deserve that kind of money were like, whoa, what am I going to get paid now? Again, I said this on Twitter. If you follow the NBA at all, it's like when you saw the cap spike in 2016,

the Lakers gave big deals to Luau Dang and Timothée Mosgoth. The NBA didn't look at that and say, oh, they reset the center market. Oh, they reset the forward market. No, they said, wow, the Lakers are effing stupid. Why would they do that? We're not paying you just a regular average center that kind of money. We're not an idiot. So just because there's one stupid team doesn't mean that it completely resets the market for the 31 other teams when you

see a deal like this. So I refuse to believe that Christian Kirk, who's never had a thousand yards in his career, deserves $20 million a year and I refuse to think that the Titans cap negotiators led by Vin Marino are going to let that affect A.J. Brown's negotiations. No. They're all going to look at it and say, hey, we know that

Jacksonville is a bunch of clowns but that doesn't mean that what they do is going to affect us. So that would be my response to that. But Jacksonville, once again, breaking the bank, trying to win in March and not winning in the season. Classic Jaguars. When the rest of the league zigs, they jag.

So anyways, moving forward, Mitchell Trubisky to the Steelers. That's interesting. I still think that they should draft a guy. Roger Saffold did sign a deal with the Bills. Some people are calling it two years. Some people are calling it one year. Saffold, via text message to Josina Anderson, basically said the second year is a formality. It's really one

year. Teddy Bridgewater to Miami. As I have consistently said, I am not a Tua believer. Miami got their starting quarterback today in Teddy Bridgewater. And then in a crazy move, J.C. Jackson took a deal to the Chargers. Now one thing that's really come out of Monday's news and contracts is cornerbacks are not getting paid what you would think. Carlton Davis went back to the Tampa Bay for only $15 million a year. Just pretty insane to me

to see that. So, that leads me to my final point here. A lot of people have asked, do you think the Titans make a big splash signing? And I think there will be one signing that's a big surprise to a lot of people. Whether that be Juju or Jarvis Landry, I think it'll either be at wide receiver or it'll be at cornerback. I don't know why but I just have this weird feeling that the Titans are going to look at like Stephon Gilmore and try to make a play for him. I don't know why but I just get those vibes. So that'll probably be the deal that freaking happens

after I upload this to YouTube around 7pm EST. Either way, that's going to do it for me today, folks. No breaking news happened while I was recording the show. If we do get something that is very, very newsworthy for the Titans, I'll come on, do a little 10-minute emergency reaction podcast and throw that in the feed as well. But either way, a crazy start to free agency. Remember, all of these deals are just agreed upon.

They haven't signed any deals yet. That doesn't happen until Wednesday, but just wanted to make sure I gave that caveat in there at the end of the show. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. Thank you.