Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Saleh COOKING with coaching staff, what the Titans NEED to reach the SUPER BOWL

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

As the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots prepare to square off in Super Bowl 60, the Tennessee Titans find themselves on the outside looking in after a grueling 3–14 season. While former coach Mike Vrabel has led the Patriots to the big game in his first year, the Titans are just beginning a new chapter under head coach Robert Saleh. In this episode, we break down how the Titans' roster stack up against the Super Bowl contenders and what it will take to bridge that gap.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!TurboTaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28.Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.Rocket MoneyLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at http://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONFanDuelIf you’re a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in Bonus Bets if you win. Make it count — because after the Super Bowl, the season is over. Last call for football on FanDuel, an Official Sportsbook Partner of Super Bowl Sixty. PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.RobinhoodTrade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin.Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firmIndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/lockedonnfl.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Julian Minnesone and they say more money, more problems, but it's actually more money less problems for the Titans. We'll talk about how they're going to spend their offseason. And I'm Brad Hopkins. Three head coaches on this roster, we're going to Sizzler. We're going to Sizzler. I'm Tyler Rowland. And speaking of that money, there's a great example in the Super Bowl of why the Titans need to spend, spend, spend. Titan up.

It's the Titans squad. everything Tennessee Titans every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the heart of Music City, the way only the locked-on podcast network can. Squad up. The Titan Squad Show starts now. And welcome into the Titans Squad Show. I'm your host, Julian Minnison, alongside my fellow co-hosts and friends, Brad Hopkins, Tyler,

and fellas, it's the final week of the NFL season. man, the Super Bowl is upon us. I'm honored to remind you that today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. It's the last call for football on Fandul. If you're a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in bonus bets if you win. And speaking about the Super Bowl, Bhop's not in his usual studio. He's at a hotel room in the Bay Area right now.

Behop, can you tell us what you're doing down there in San Francisco? So I'm at the Park 55. It's a Hilton Hotel, by the way. And it is probably about five blocks from where most of the festivities will be taking place in Super Bowl 60. Besides the game, of course. I'm here representing the Alumni Association. So I get to see some of my cohorts, my peers. And this is, A, one, first off, it's probably one of the biggest job fairs that exists, you know, with all the firings and hirings and newness and people moving on and people getting into the industry.

and of course this is where the basic sports universe converges to be a part of what's going to be an exciting Super Bowl. And did you hear that, Tyler? We're friends. It's nice. It's nice. Yeah, you're my only former NFL player friend. So I'm pretty happy about this. I'm glad we can confirm that live on air.

I got one. You need to get out more, Tyler. You need to get out more. Yeah, not too many former NFL players in my circle of friends here in Little Ohio. So, yeah, I may need to do that, exactly that. I'm coming with you, Brad, next year. I'm going in your carry-on. That's where I wanted to start, you guys, at the Super Bowl.

Obviously, the Seattle, Seahawks, New England Patriots, they'll be playing in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday. And, of course, this is a Titans podcast, and we want to talk about what it takes for the Titans to ultimately get to those places. So when you think of the Seahawks and the Patriots right now as kind of the benchmark for where the Titans to get, where's one area where you say,

hey, I need the Titans to replicate that in order to get over the hump and get to the mountain top. The number one thing for me is the money. Look at what the Patriots did. The Patriots were 4 and 13 last year. Yeah, they add Mike Vrable. He's a great coach. Drake Ney goes into his second year and takes a big time leap.

But the Patriots spent the most money of any team in the NFL and free agency last year. They made trades to add guys and gave them new deals. They had a bunch of veteran free. agents that they brought in. They go out and get Milton Williams, who has just been absolutely devastating on that defensive line to other offenses. I think that while the age-old adage in the NFL is that the winner in the all season is typically a loser in the regular season, I think when you get a new coaching staff in place, you're looking to get people who fit that scheme,

and the Titans have $100 million in cap space. They can easily get to $130, $140 million in cap space if they need to get that high. I just think that they need to, I'm not asking them to go out and repeat, you know, 20-23 and give out a bunch of bad money, but they definitely do need to spend on a lot of mid-range deals to get good veterans in spot, especially with, you know, how barren the roster is in some places. So, you know, don't be crazy, don't be reckless,

but New England just showed you. You get the right coaching staff in place and you spend wisely, even if you spend a lot, it can still be worth it. So the Titans need to use that money that they got because at the end of the day, you can only roll over so much of it. Yeah, you know what?

then try and manufacture a different response. I'm just going to go ahead and piggyback off yours, Tyler, because you are dead spot on. I remember standing at the training facility before training camp started maybe a couple of years ago. And I was talking with Amy. Yes, Amy Adams Strong, the owner. And I said, I looked around while I was standing there. I said, I love what you've done with the place.

And we both laughed about it. And she said, I like to spend money. because the facility now is three times as big as the one that was built for us when we first moved here in 1997. So to see the expanse and the growth and the development of the franchise from that capacity, it did show me that she doesn't mind, but she's only dabbled in that when it comes to picking the groceries. Now, she's gotten a couple of free agents that were big names, but probably on their way on the decline a little bit.

so they didn't cost near as much. So she got some great players on the cheap and paid for it, basically. But when you do what she's done to this point or allow Mike Burgundy and Chad Brinker to kind of put things together, and I'm sure now with the help of Robert Sala, spare no expense. They are Big John from Jurassic Park because they realize that that's the formula it takes to win. You've got to get talent. Now, I can understand the wanting to play the old game, which is since the rookie deal was put in place, you don't have to pay a rookie until that fourth year.

That's when he really gets a huge bite of the apple, right? So in the meantime, you get him on the cheap and you hope he just does extremely well. Then you reevaluate where you are with him if you want to invest in him or not, right? But I think you've got to have a really good scouting staff to do that. You've got to really have a guy that can say, hey, look, here's a player that's the, projected third rounder, but this cap is going to be a first rounder. Trust me. Okay.

And when you can get that kind of evaluation from your scouts and pick those players that aren't going to cost you as much and then you get great productivity, great execution from those mid-round players and not, and I have to pay them, then great. You're a frugal franchise that has done very well. There's only one franchise that I've known that has perfected that model, and that's New England Patriots because they had a process in place to where it's about the culture. It's about discipline. It's about doing what we do here as the Patriot way versus you standing out on your own and being someone that needs to be acknowledged as being this great player or whatever else. They did it with a bunch

of no names. They surrounded Tom Brady with. The next thing you know, they win the championships. I said all that to say, you can either spend the money or have a great staff that can find those hidden gems that all might get you get you where you want to go. And for this, this situation after having picked first in the draft and now fourth in the draft, spend the cash. It's quite the debit. And that's, it's seemingly what they're all, at least on the same page about now. Well, Brad, you piggybacked off me. Sorry, Julian, I'm going to piggyback off you when we're talking about money. The Titans have to have a mixture of that, right? They don't have a lot of current veteran players who are going to command big contracts in the future. Jeffrey

Simmons is going to get an extension this offseason, probably get the highest paid interior defensive line contract in NFL history. And he deserves it. That's the way. that it goes. Peter Skoronsky is going to get an extension because he is coming up on the last year of his rookie deal, but that's not even going to kick in until year five. He's going to play the fourth year on that rookie scale. So the Titans don't have a lot of veterans that like are due for a payday where, hey, we can't spend the money. We got to save it for there's nobody there. So they can spend big time money on some guys. And look, everybody was, oh, Calvin Ridley, Legerius Sneed, but those deals didn't work out. But the Titans still have $100 million

in cap space. It's not like they don't have any money. now because they spent on those guys and they're going to be in the same spot in a couple of years. So a combination of spending that money, swiping the debit in free agency this year, maybe making a trade for a guy who's on a veteran contract already. And then you gotta hit on some gems because this team needs to rebuild and add some young players who the coaching staff can get the most out of. But I want to say this. You mentioned the training facility, the jerseys, the coaching staff.

Brian Dayboy at Offensive Coordinator and Gus Bradley at defensive, coordinator, those aren't cheap guys. Like we only think about the head coach and getting him in place, but Amy Adam Strunk opened the pocketbook to put this coaching staff together and to keep Bones Fossil around. And she's going to open the pocketbook again for signing bonus money in free agency this year. And she opened the pocket book to build a new stadium and to get new jerseys and all that like Amy Adam Strunk has put her money where her mouth is. And Robert Sala said that in the press conference.

And he didn't just say that as a euphemism as an analogy. literally, she put her money where her mouth is. She fired Rand Carthorn, still paying him. That's why he went to CBS folks, because if he would have got hired by an NFL team, the offset language would have meant the Titans didn't have to pay him anymore. He's like, nah, I want that money from the Titans. I'm not giving anything back.

I'll go do media until my contract is up. You know what I mean? She's paying Brian Callahan. So Amy Adam Strunk takes a lot of heat, and I get it. She's the owner. When things are bad, the owner gets to blame, but she has done pretty much everything she can monetarily. clearly speaking, to try to turn this thing around this all season.

And I think she deserves credit for putting her money where her mouth is. And this year more than ever, Tyler, to that point, if you get the staff in place that is able to develop a culture, right, it wasn't just the Patriots who made a huge turnaround either. I mean, you look at the Jags, the turnaround that they made. The Bears. The Bears. The turnaround the day.

So it can happen quickly in the NFL. Robert Salas did something interesting in the opening press conference when he was asked about measuring success, right? He said Super Bowl is ultimately the goal, but I do think it was a realistic and good answer, saying that it's a little bit more process oriented than that. And that starts with the coaching staff and turning things around on that front. So with that said, guys, is it turnaround like that realistic in 2026? Or what would be deemed a success for you guys going into next season?

Look, I'm telling you what, there is a simple model to winning in the NFL. It's just you have to have the players buying to do it. It's hard. It takes discipline. It takes sacrifice. And if you're willing to do that, there's a championship at the end of the rainbow. Mike Vrable understands it. Mike McDonald understands it.

Both of these guys are building cultures that are about the unit, not the individual. And they handpicked guys that buy into that, that subscribe to that. I look at Rick Wollin. Rick Wollin last night when we were on Sirius, during the media night, he talked about the most important thing to him is not about the dollars and all this other stuff. It's about the cleats and the shoulder pads. Those are his words because he's a passionate football player. He just loves the game.

Now, obviously, we're not going to say he's dumb enough to do it for free, but that whole analogy of, I do this stuff for free. Why do you say that? You say that because you love what you're doing so much. You're so passionate about it that you wouldn't even have to pay them to do what they're doing. It's almost like you're like thanking God that you're able to work like that, you know? So that's what they find. They find those guys. And they have a standard and they have at least now a reputation.

The Patriots do. The chiefs do. Those kind of franchises do to where it's easily to buy in because you do play for championships when you go there. And it's the expectation. You see what I'm saying? When you go to Kansas City, you expect to be playing in January. When you go to Pittsburgh even, you expect to be playing in January. You go to some of these friends now some of us that are still trying to come up

You know when you go to the Titans like hey You know good food I mean you're not saying hey we expect to play in January now that can be changed right That I didn't know perception can be changed but there are some some franchise that already had it baked in And so what Rable saying here is look look it ain't about you it's about us You see I'm saying we're investing in each other So if you want to have a selfish attitude if you want to have a selfish attitude if you want to have have this me, me, me, look at me, that type stuff. Here, you can hit the bricks because that's not going to work here.

You know, and it's that buy-in and knowing it's going to be hard, knowing Brable's going to kick your ass, knowing that he's going to require more of you than you've probably been asked of yourself by anybody. And if you're willing to buy into that, there will be a Lombardi at the end of the rainbow. Well, think about rowing a boat, you know, if everyone is not rowing in the same, If just one person is off rhythm, just one person stops rowing, you're not going to be able to do what you need to do. And I think you mentioned a name right there, Brad.

You know what you need to do. You see Tyreek Woolen walking around and say, why don't you bring that over to Nashville, that six foot three long arm zone outside corner. Tyreek Woolen is one of those guys. I am desperate to get in free agency. And I think Seattle may consider letting them go because of all the other pieces that they're going to have to deal with

and pay and everything like that. But you're 100% right. I mean, it's all about creating a culture where guys are willing to do more and where guys are willing to push to the limit. Like that is where you're willing to put yourself away and do what's best for everyone around you. And it reminds me of a clip that I saw from Gus Bradley when he was with the Seahawks early on in his career

when he was a defensive coordinator there. And he's literally ripping guys on the sideline. Like, we just got a three and out because everybody was doing their job. This series for some reason, you guys don't want to do your job. He's like, we need to be two yards off the hash. We gotta make sure we're on the outside shoulder of the tackle. He's just hitting them with all these details like quit trying to do your own thing

and just do your job and having that mindset of, I'm not gonna go out and try to do more and make myself this and me make the play and blah blah blah blah being able to truly care about the people around you and do what's best for the group. It's something that's very hard to find in today's culture. It just doesn't happen a lot in football is one of the only places where it really happens

and the thing is in football, it is really really, required. You have to do that if you want to be a great team. So we can talk about spending the money and making the roster better, but the culture that Robert Salah, Brian Daible, Bones Fossil, Gus Bradley, that these guys are going to set is equally as important as anything that they do with the roster. Indeed. And speaking of Gus Bradley, we're going to talk about him too on the other side of the break. The new hire, the new DC in Nashville. Why Tyler called him the perfect hire for the Tennessee Titans. That's coming up next here on the Titans. squad show. Keep it here. All right, let's be real. No one starts a business for the joy of calculating

tax withholdings or managing payroll spreadsheets. That's where Gusto comes in to take the stress out of payroll benefits and HR so you could focus on running your business and supporting your team. Gusto is an all-in-one remote-friendly payroll and HR platform that makes managing your team simple, transparent and fast. Whether you're hiring, onboarding, or paying employees, Gusto helps you do it all from one place without the hassle or hidden fees. Unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price, which means no surprise charges at the end of the month. We love that. Try gusto today at gusto.com slash locked on NFL and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's right. Three months free of payroll there, a free payroll at gusto.com slash

locked on NFL. One more time. That's gusto.com slash locked on NFL. And it's the last call for football on Fanduel. One final Sunday, one last kickoff. The final chance to get in on the action before the NFL season officially comes to a close. This is Super Bowl 60 and Fanduil is making sure you're right in the middle of it with a special offer just in time for the biggest game of the year. Whether you're back in the favorite or riding the underdog or building that one last same game parlay, this game is everyone's been waiting for it. So if you're a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in bonus bets if you win. Make it count because after the Super Bowl season's over.

Last call for football on Fandul, an official sports book partner of Super Bowl 60. Visit fanduel.com to get started. All right, fellas. So Gus Bradley coming over from San Francisco. the new defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans. Tyler, you called him the perfect hire for the Titans. Why is that? Well, he's perfect because he has worked.

It's funny, not only has he worked under Robert Sala last year with the San Francisco 49ers, but Robert Sala has worked under him multiple times. It's funny how those relationships kind of pay each other back. He gave Robert Sala an opportunity as a defensive quality control coach with the Seahawks, goes to Jacksonville, makes him the linebacker coach. Robert Salah parlayes that into a defensive coordinator position and then a head coaching opportunity and then it comes back around when Gus Bradley is looking for work,

hires him as the assistant head coach of the defense with San Francisco last year and now he's the defensive coordinator. And again, I know that there are concerns about Gus Bradley, his defensive system, him as a play caller because he didn't really evolve enough after that Legion of Boom, Seattle Seahawks cover three heavy style. But he is not the play caller here. He is not the guy who is installing his system.

It's Robert Sala's system. Robert Sala is going to be calling plays on defense. So that makes the defensive coordinator role unique. It's not the play caller that you would typically think of when you say defensive coordinator like Dernard Wilson was. This is a guy who literally is teaching the players. He is taking what Robert Sala is saying, teaching, promoting the install, helping with the game plan,

all of that, and having a guy who has 16 years of experience in the NFL as a head coach or a defensive coordinator to be the teacher to the defense who, again, Robert Sala's system is a modernized, evolved version of the Legion of Boom Seahawks heavy cover three zone defense. Like Robert Sala took what Gus Bradley taught him, added in more modern concepts and more complexity to it, and then that's what he runs right now. So Gus Bradley is uniquely qualified to teach that. I go back to Nick Holes. Brian Callahan hired Nick Holes as his offensive coordinator.

Well, Nick Holes is an offensive coordinator that doesn't call play. So what is Nick Holes doing? Nick Holes is literally teaching the system, teaching the game plan, installing the playbook to those guys. And it's probably difficult to do that if you're learning the playbook and learning the system for the first time too because Nick Holes had never worked with Brian Callahan in the NFL. The only time that they had actually worked together

was in Nebraska under Brian Callahan's dad. So if Nick Holes is learning the system, them for the first time. Every adjustment they wait, every new play, every, you know, little difference that they do to different plays. Brian Callahan has to teach that to Nick Holes, and then Nichols has to go teach that. Well, we get to skip that entire step with Gus Bradley and Robert Sala. There is no, hey, this is what I want to do. I want to do it this way. Can you tell him to do it like this? No, Gus Bradley already knows what Robert Sala wants to do and how he wants it installed and how he wants it taught to the players.

So it's just such a different level of understanding and knowledge that it makes me incredibly excited. I wanted a defensive coordinator who was going to be a good teacher and has taught tons of different guys and tons of different stuff throughout his career and that's exactly what they got. So you've got the young bull and Robert Sala, of course, who's in charge of the defense. But having Yoda to teach his padwans is exactly what the Titans needed.

Did you really just call him Padwans? That's funny. Yeah, I got a little nerd to me, man. You know, I got my jock side, but I got that nerd side to me too. You know, they call Yoda in Seattle, quandary digs. There you go. The defense of backroom calls him Yoda because he's obviously the elder spokesperson, and he has a lot of morsels and knowledge that they pick up from.

You know, regardless of how it worked out for Gus Bradley as a head coach, he still was afforded the opportunity to be a head coach in a national football league. You know what that means? That means you're damn good at your job. Exactly. And maybe all the other stuff that you had to add on to that as a head coach, maybe it was a little overwhelming and sometimes it tends to be. Maybe just the timing wasn't right for you to be in that position.

But we remember coaching against Gus Bradley as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2013 to 2016, right? Yes. Well, guess what? Now he's got a crib in Nashville. And his job isn't to manage the team. his job is to manage his side of the damn football. No more, no less, it's staying in your vertical. It's doing what you're supposed to do.

And in his case, I think that he'd be a great teacher. Sometimes when you're a head coach, you just don't have time to. Now, Mike Vrable does as best he can to stick his head into every meeting room and add some little tidbit in there kind of showing, first off, I understand what you're doing as a player, okay, and I'm here to show you I care about your development. That's why I'm doing, taking the time to influence and, and say things, things to you, you know, but sometimes you're just not qualified to do that. But with Gus Bradley, we know that his side of the football is defense, and he can coach that. So let him do what he does

best. Let him do what he did for San Francisco, helping them create one of the nastiest defenses, you know, helping Robert Sala, like you just said, right? That relationship already exists. The, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, uh, uh, term thing. And, you know, uh, uh, uh, term things, you know, the terminology. It's all the same. So it's very easy for you to then help the guys that you're trying to coach understand the mission, you know? So I'm excited, man. I said that at the very beginning is one of my teases. I mean, you've got Gus Bradley, former head coach. You got Brian Dayball, former head coach. You've got Robert Sala, former head coach. These guys all now will get

together and collectively, you know, make some exciting things happen here in Nashville. You know, I will say since we're talking about, you know, this is Super Bowl week. Clint Kubiak is going to be the next coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. For one reason and one reason only, his ability to communicate. When I hear guys like Cooper Cup talk about or when I hear him talk about Cooper Cup and his influence on their offensive play call, and when I hear Drew Locke talk about him being able to say a few things in a meeting room that then translated him doing stuff on Sunday and it works. when obviously I hear Sam Darnold being able to influence.

It's a collective, guys. It's a collective. And Mike McDonald understands that. That's why he hired Clint Kubiak. Clint Kubiak is a guy that's like above all egos to say, look, let's do this the best way, not necessarily my way. If my way is the best way, we're going to do it my way. If your way is the best way, then we'll do it your way. But I at least have an understanding as a coach to be able to do that.

And that's what's super important. So I would hope that those three coaches that are now here in Tennessee, we're at that same kind of approach. It's a collective. Tap into the things that Gus knows, Robert. Tap into the things that Brian knows. Brian, talk with Gus. Gus, what would you do against Brian?

And then we get together and we make this whole thing a magical experience for everybody. Now, now everybody's going to stick around because, you know, if you do great jobs at offensive coordinating and defensive coordinating, someone's going to tap you on the shoulder, can you run my team? You know, next to you know, he's gone.

You know, same thing happening with Clint, right? Matter of fact, I think it was saying that was talking about how upset he is at the fact that Clint did such a terrific job. Right. He walked his butt right out of the door. You know, so it's the way it happens. A fun little fact, and I'm pretty sure this is correct. I know about Davel and Sala for sure, but I think Gus Bradley, it's right, too.

All three of those guys got their first win as I had coach against the Titans. Brian Dable in week one, Robert Sala in week two, And then Gus Bradley back, I think all three of those guys got their first win as a head coach against the Titans. And I don't think the Titans are going to have to worry about Gus Bradley getting hired away. I mean, maybe Arizona was interested in him. I want to point that out to Arizona, according to Albert Breer, Arizona offered more money, and he could have called plays as the defensive head coach because Mike Lafleur doesn't know anything about defense. And he still chose to come to Tennessee and be Robert Salas' defensive coordinator that doesn't call

play. So I think that says a lot about the draw that the Titans are and the relationships that Robert Sala has around the league as well. But yeah, just interesting that all three of those guys are on the Titan staff now and they all got their first win as a head coach against the Titans. You're a regular snapple fact, Tyler. Your regular Snapple fact. Why are you laughing when you say that?

That's not funny. It's just ironic. I don't know. Hey, listen. And Brad, in life, you're going to laugh or cry in life and I always choose to laugh, man. Tyler, to your point, talking about the Jedi Master in Padawan thing. Robert Sala considers Gus Bradley like a mentor, right? And when you think of Robert Sala, this is his second stint. And more likely than not, you're not getting a third in the NFL. So he is staking his coaching future on the Tennessee Titans. So to have your mentor down the

hall from you, I think as somebody you can lean on, I think that's super invaluable. You know, and to further the nerd conversation, Tyler, they're kind of building a little Avengers level coaching staff right now with guys with multiple head coaching experiences years. You know, it's so refreshing compared what we just had with Brian Callahan, Nick calls DeNard Wilson. And then if you want to count Colt Anderson, who there's no coaching experience, you know, no head coaching experience. So I think it's a refreshing thing to have four dudes who, when they step up to the podium, you know that is my unit. That is my side of the ball. And there's command and weight like Bhop talked about a couple of shows.

ago. What do you guys think when it comes to young players, how valuable that is going to be for like a Kevin Winston, for a Femiole dejo, Cedric Gray, those guys who are such pillars to what the Titans hope to do moving forward. Yeah, I think it's critical. I mean, I've been watching full admission. I've been watching Robert Salatay all morning. I've watched like seven or eight games of San Francisco last year, just trying to understand exactly what's going to happen. And the way that he uses his safeties, whether it's big nickel with three safeties out on the field,

using a safety as a slot cornerback on early downs, whether it's how he keeps his defensive end super wide and allows them to get these linear angles to go after the quarterback, whether it's how they teach their linebackers to attack downhill. I think about Cedric Gray, James Williams, Femiola DeGio, Kevin Winston.

The Titans are probably going to add a, like we talked about last episode, maybe add a defensive end early in the draft, like a Rubin Bain, a David Bailey, and Arvel Reese, something like that. I just have so much faith in what Robert Sala is going to be able to get out of his young players

and having a guy like Gus Bradley who again has been a de-coordinator or a head coach for like 16 years in the league. He's going to know exactly what to do to get the best out of these young players. And Julian, you mentioned it. Brian Callahan, DeNard Wilson, and Colt Anderson had a combined

zero years of play-calling experience when they were hired for the Tennessee Titans. Well, Brian Dable, Gus Bradley, Robert Salab, Bones Fossil, they're at like, you know, 55 years of play calling experience total. So it's just, you know, a lot of people like to say, Tyler, you were excited about the Brian Callahan hire. Why should I listen to you about being excited about this hire? And I'm like, that's fair, you're right.

A lot of us were wrong about being excited about Brian Callahan, but if you can't see the clear difference and the clear reason why you should be excited about this coaching staff with the experience difference between the two, then I don't know what else I could possibly tell you. Like, these guys have done it, they've proved it, and that gives them a definite advantage trying to get the most out of a team

that is going to be mostly young players, even with the additions in free agency. Man, I just got scared, guys. I just got scared of the Titans having to meet expectation. If you think about all the moves that they've done to this point, they haven't even really gotten to free agency, See, they haven't really gotten to the draft. They haven't gotten to all that, man.

They just kicked the damn door in just for the coaching staff, right? Good staff, man. This team cannot flounder. Right. It can't. I'm not going to go down the road if it does because, holy crap. If that happens, this team's picking in the top five next year. No way.

Then we're jinx, bro. Then something's wrong. Curse. You know what I mean? Then we need to have some sage. We need to burn some insuff. sense. We need to get some hensin going on. We need to go to do what do they say go down to the river. We need to get down there and we need to do something different because something's wrong here in

Nashville. That's the reason why I said I'm nervous because there's going to be so much hype just because of the convergence of these personalities and then whatever they do. And in taking what we have to the next level, I'm so excited to watch Brian Dayball standing on the sideline. Stopping Cam Ward is he comes off from a drive to go over something that happened in that. Maybe they're celebrating a touchdown, but they're getting ready for the next series, whatever else. But to watch that instruction, that connection, right?

I can't wait to watch Robert Sala and Gus Bradley, you know, high-fiving Jeffrey Simmons or Sedge a great for making some tackle for a loss. Are you kidding me right now? Let's go. Yeah. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. So it, and because of where it's been for the past few years, I'm kind of like, what if it doesn't happen?

What if all the things that we're, that we're ready for, we're excited to have and the potential, what if it doesn't happen? You know, what if I walk across the pedestrian bridge, ready to jump off again? You know, what happens? You know, I want to be excited. I want to be positive. I want to be all the things, because I see this amazing thing starting to develop. Then I'm not going to say it's all going to be ready to go. and ready to roll out, you know, to have guests over in 2026 because there's a lot of

newness going on, right? A lot of adjustment, a lot of learning, that kind of stuff. But by the time they roll out the red carpet for that thing called Nissan Stadium, sweet heavens, y'all, this thing should, it's got to work, right? It's got to work. They got to win six games, man. Like, I know that it's not good. It's not good to put number. All right, that's fair. I try to keep my expectations. but if they don't win six games next year, you can find me at the bottom of the Cumberland, man. I'm already going to be gone

because I just cannot take another terrible, terrible season. And I think doubling the win total will get into six. If they get to six wins, yeah, see, I don't think this is going to be a Bears, a Jags, a Patriots. The roster has a little bit more to go than that. There's going to be a lot of newness, but they should absolutely be able to win six, seven games next year. If they get to eight or nine, I mean, strike up the band,

start the parade. What a turnaround that would be. And it's possible in the AFC South. Daniel Jones's injury. I don't trust the Jaguars to do this again. The Texans, they're on the fritz with the offense, is shroud the guy, all of that. It's not like they're in the NFC West or the AFC West where it's just a juggernaut at all time. So it is definitely possible. But yeah, they need at least six wins. And I'm sure we'll talk more about this, you know, in the next eight months until we actually get to the season again. But they got to win at least six games next year. or it wasn't good enough.

I think that's fair to put that number on it. And find comfort knowing that they won't play the toughest schedule in the NFL next year. Insanity. I mean, that was brutal, guys. The only county out, fellas, would be one situation or circumstance would be injury. You know what I mean?

Because we've seen a lot of really good teams, lose some really key players, and that's nothing that they could actually have. They couldn't do anything about that. But they go out there and just shoot themselves in the foot and just aren't playing on the same page and just not understanding, all that crap, then that's something different.

But if you lose a key play, I won't even go say it. I'm not even going to say it because I'm going to put that in the other. Yeah. You know what I'm saying. Yeah. You know what I'm saying. That's all I'm saying.

Yeah. But they need to, they need to, I think that what they've done and what they will do can prevent against that because injuries happen all the time. The best season, the Titans have had record-wise in the regular season in the last, you know, since 2008, was when the Titans had a record setting 91 players on their So like good coaching and good experience coaching, look at all the injuries they had in San Francisco on defense last year.

And Robert Salas still had them boys playing great football and getting to the playoffs. So good coaching and then creating veteran depth through free agency can prevent injuries from derailing the season. And I think certain, like, they need to get a good backup quarterback, a better one that they had that, you know, God forbid Cam Ward misses two weeks with a hamstring or an ankle or something. They're not totally sunk. and on the offensive line, let's get some veteran depth and have more talent at wide receivers so you're not playing Mason Kinsey and James Prochet. I think all the stuff that we've talked about

in the first 35 minutes of the show can help them overcome if they do have a little bit of... I mean, the devastating ones, the out for season, all that, yeah, they can't withstand that. But, you know, injuries 100%, and let's build depth with the money that we have and use these coaches that we're paying a lot of money to to get the best out of these young guys

that may have to end up playing. And I think all of that together could keep the season on track, even if they do meet adversity, which they certainly will. Yeah, you know, the Patriots also getting to the Super Bowl, that was some of it was a product of the schedule too, and the Titans schedule, if you look at it on paper at least, is a little bit more favorable than they had this past season. So got to beat the teams in front of you,

and then we'll see if the Titans are able to do that as they enter 2026. Tyler mentioned free agency. We've talked about it a little bit, where we want the Titans to spend their money, we also look at some of the free agents that the Titans had that are off the books that maybe they might want to bring back. So we'll talk about that next on the Titans Squad Show. Keep it in it.

All right, tax season doesn't have to take over your life. This year, TurboTax is making it easier than ever to just hand things off and move on with your day. With TurboTax full service, you can have your taxes done for you by a trusted local expert start to finish without the stress or guesswork. I use TurboTax. So instead of spending hours on it, I was done. minutes and that is certainly a time saver and lifesaver. Now for a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local turbotax expert for just $150 all in. If a turbo tax expert didn't file

for you last year, just filed by February 28th. Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life. Visit turbotax.com slash local to book your appointment today. All right, fellas, we touched on it a little bit. The Titans are going to have nearly $100 million in cap space, most in the league. A lot of money to spend. And so you guys talked about how important that is going to be. Is there an area, if you can name one, the top one on your list, where you hope they spend some of that mullah? I mean, the obvious positions, edge, cornerback, wide receiver. I want to see them get an offensive lineman at right guard as well, a veteran to compete with Jackson Slater. I think what happens is Titans fans get so excited about some of these young guys.

that they kind of overrate, you know, what they're going to do. Yeah, I would love Jim D.K. to become one of the best slot-wide receivers in the NFL, and Jackson Slater becomes the right guard, and, you know, Marcus Harris is a certified stud at slot corner and all these different things to happen, but the reality is not every player from a draft class is going to be a hit.

If you can get about, you know, three or four guys to be real starters for you out out of an eight-nine-man draft class, you balled out as a general manager. Like, that's a great class. So I think the Titans need to make sure that they don't, you know, expect too much from some of their young players and they go out and get help. I look at a guy like Trey Hendrickson. I know he's 31 years old, but he's not going to get some big, long-term deal.

And as I said earlier, it's not like the Titans have people to pay in the future where if they give out big deals that they're not going to be able to retain their good guys. There are no good guys to retain. Trey Hendrickson had an injury last year, but two years prior to that, he had 17 and a half sacks. He's a hand in the dirt, big body defensive end. I think he fits perfectly with Robert Sala. We talked about Tyreek Wullen at cornerback, 6 foot 3, long arms, zone heavy guy who can play,

cover 4, cover 3, down the boundary. I would love that. Alante Taylor, who played at Tennessee, who was an outside corner for the New Orleans Saints. He's a boss. Devin Lloyd, the great linebacker from the Jags, bring him over and put him in the middle of the defense with Cedric Gray. Now we're cooking.

I look at a guy like Wyatt Taylor at all. offensive line, play him at right guard, let him compete on a one-year deal with Jackson Slater. Wide receiver is going to be tougher. I don't know, I go through the list of the top three agent wide receivers. I don't know that any of them are going to be available and some of them that will be available. I don't think are worth it. Like a Joanne Jennings, for example, from San Francisco. I'm just not super high on him.

Romeo Dobbs, you want to give Romeo Dobbs $22 million a year? I don't really know about that. I'm hoping Michael Porter Jr. gets cut by the Indian Afterts. Colts because they're trying to retain Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. will save him $24 million in salary cap space if they cut him. So I'm hoping he becomes available because he would be a great ex-wide receiver to have for a couple of years and let Elek back him up and rotate in with him. Like, I just think there are going to be a lot of options in free agency at the positions that the Titans need the most. Adafay-O-Way at the edge as well makes a ton of sense.

Boy, a mafei is another guy. Like, there are a lot of options out there. But the three, main positions that the Titans got to focus on her edge, wide receiver, and cornerback. And outside of that, look for that veteran right guard to come in and compete with Jackson Slater. Those are the things that are really at the top of my shopping list. Beop? Yeah, the only real constants I see with any sort of consistency that make me feel good about winning the line of scrimmage would be the youngsters that they've developed, that they're investing in. I like J.C. Latham's future.

I think that he's going to develop into a really good tackle. Peter Skoronsky, I think it's going to be an all-pro before it's all set and done. The other components, Dan Moore Jr., not impressed. Lloyd Cushingberry, yeah, whatever. Kevin Zitler, better days, you've seen better days. So at the end of the day, if I can't win the line of scrimmage, nothing else matters. You guys understand it, right? Nothing else matters.

I can have the best quarterbacking in the world. But if he's getting chased like no other and getting a crap knock out of him on a regular basis because they can't protect him, it doesn't matter. Guys to throw two. It doesn't matter if the quarterback ain't got time to find him. So it doesn't matter, right? Running back.

If the guy is running into the back of linemen or into the front of defensive linemen with nowhere to go with the ball, then it doesn't matter about that either, right? You got to have people that can protect the pocket and make holes. That's what winning football is about. That's why the first major rule of football is what, stopping the run. Okay?

That's the biggest first rule of football, stop the run. The next rule is get to the passer. Because if you're stopping from running, the only other option is to throw the dang thing. So if you got both bases cover, guess what? You win the game. But it starts with the big bodies up front. So I know it sounds narcissistic or silly for me, because of former offensive linemen said they need the best in front.

But until I see a dominant front five that give Cam Ward a minimum of four seconds, what are we doing here? We should have a thousand yard back easily and Sam Darnel type numbers from a quarterback when you've got a great line. That's what it comes down to. I think they can get there. Yeah. Who can what's that now?

I think they can get there. I think the offensive line was much improved in the back half of the season. It's something that I've been talking about because a lot of fans are, you know, saying they need to hit the offensive line, hit the offensive line. Some of these mock drafts that are coming out, have the Titans taking offensive line at pick number four. And I just, I get that the offensive line underperformed a bit, but after the by week, they were a lot better. And especially a lot of people attack J.C. Latham because the penalties look bad. The false starts and stuff like that. But the first nine games of the year,

he was dealing with the hip injury after week one. He missed a bunch of games early on. He gave up six sacks in the first like nine games because he was hurt, he wasn't playing well. The last eight games of the year, he only gave up two sacks, and his worst games weren't even that bad. So if you, I know you can't remove the penalties, he's got to clean up the penalties,

but I always blame penalties on the coaching staff. I see penalties as a coaching function, in my opinion. But Latham was significantly improved in the back half. You're right. Peter Skoronski is already at a, saying, pro bowl level now is tainted because the pro bowl is an absolute joke with what they've done to it. But he is at a pro-bowl level already,

and it'll probably be at an all-pro level with a little bit of help. Dan Moore is, you're right. He's a slightly below-average left tackle who they had to overpay in free agency because you've got to overpay and free agency. And I think they should look later in the draft, round three, round four, round five. Maybe you look to find the heir apparent for a guy like Dan Moore. You take an offensive tackle late.

But like the Titans' offensive line was massively improved. They ended up being the 16th best pass. blocking offensive line and pass block win rate according to ESPN's metric. They were like 16th and pass block grade for pro football focus. Like it got a lot better at the end of the year. Cam Ward helped them out too because Cam Ward stopped taking bad sacks and Cam Ward was responsible for eight sacks on his own this year according to pro football focus and the second highest percentage of pressures

that a quarterback was responsible for was Cam Ward. So Cam got better. That helped the O line. Brad, you know running the ball is critical. Once the Callahan's got out of them, they started running the ball more because Luke Stocker, the tight end coach, who Luke Stocker is going to be the next offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, folks. That is the succession plan. Guess who taught Luke Stocker how to block? Brad Hopkins?

I got him out of Tennessee right before the combine, man. Work with him for six weeks on how to become a better way. Wow. What a dog. What a connection there. See, this is great stuff. But, I mean, the point is, I think the offensive line, was league average in the second half of the season,

and if you add in a good right guard, and Lloyd Cushingberry is a year removed from the Achilles, you're always better that year removed from your major lower body injury. Dan Moore just keeps doing that thing that he's doing. Latham takes a step forward. Skoronsky takes another step forward. We're looking at a top 13, top 12 offensive line.

I don't think the Titans need to use the number four pick or give out some, if it's, they want to cut Cushingberry and go get like Tyler Lindenbaum, the center from Baltimore, I'm here for it. Like, I'm here for that. Go ahead and do that with your money. But I just don't, I just don't think you're right. The offensive line needs to be good and get better, but I think they were.

But the D line, John Franklin Myers, John Franklin Myers, who played for the Denver Broncos. He's an inside rusher. Pair him with Jeffrey Simmons on the interior. Go get Trey Hendrickson or Adafay O.A. Fortify the defensive line even more. with your defensive coach and turn this defense into a top five dominant defense. And I think they have the pieces to do that. So I'm with you on the trenches, Brad, but I'm more for free agency.

I'm more looking at adding to the D line than the O line. Because I think the pieces of the O line right now, they can at least be more like the second half version than they were the first half version. I know that we're going to get to the questions and comments, Julian. But MB, JW 9S, that response was really in tune. with what we're talking about. They said that's, I don't know if it's a male or female, so that's why I'm saying they. That's why they shouldn't just rely on getting free agent O. Lyman.

Good old linemen don't end up in free agency. They have to make a trade for skilled old linemen. Okay, that's a great point. If a guy is available, if he's a free agent, he's a free agent for a reason, because nobody wanted them. Because you don't let good linemen go. Now, how you combat that is you make teams sign the restricted free agents sooner than they want to.

that's what you do you go to a restricted free look at the restricted free agent roster and you see some guys that you know that they're about to resign next year where they're just waiting you say hey look i want to make a pitch for this guy right here if you want to keep him you're going to pay through the nose to keep him because you feel that he's part of your future if you don't want to keep him then guess what i got him and he's going to come here he's going to play with me you see as so i'd look at the restricted free agents those that are about to get resigned and especially those ones that you know are going to get resigned to big and you're going to be. money but you're just not put it this way what why is sam darnall in seattle because in minnesota

didn't want to pay a hundred million dollars period that's it they had just drafted j jay j mccarthy as a top 10 pick he was actually looking pretty good in preseason until he got hurt sam darnald you know was just coming over from sam fran you know whatever he was going to be his backup the guy ends up having a magical year winning 14 games thrown for 4300 yards but the point being this had he not had that year to create that market Seattle win the kid. Well, first off Seattle said they saw him anyway. They saw his button. They wanted to make sure they had at least had a chance

to bring him on the roster. And so when they offered him that $100 million contract and just basically dared Minnesota to match it, Minnesota's like, we're out, bro. You got it. And now their GMs fired. Yeah. Justin Jefferson had his worst career in year than he's had so far.

Yeah. But the point I'm trying to make is that's, you know, that's basically it. you know if you you know i don't know what else to say with that it's just to me it's like if you if you if you got good linemen you keep them you keep resigning them i mean that's the reason why me and ruse and lewan played as long as we did we played 30 years for this franchise and i played three contracts with this franchise you know i mean so it's like yeah you did look at that chain brad we can see the money i can smell the money Where are you staying again, Brad?

Where are you staying? Where's the hotel at? It's not bad ass hotel, though, for real. But, you know, it's not that. It's being able to play for the same franchise means that they wanted you here. You know what I mean? And I didn't outpriced myself to where they couldn't afford me either, though.

You know, it was like, they probably knew I wouldn't go anywhere anyway. They probably would offer me the least of my money. I'm like, yeah, I don't feel like moving. You know, there's a lot. after that. Moving sucks. I'm not going anywhere. So you say that guy's making what? You say he's making $250,000 more than me? Ah, well, let him have it. He's good. You know, I'm not competitive like that. I'm good where I'm at. That's why I never left. It wasn't even a thought to leave. I resigned my contracts one year before they were set to expire three times.

I never even saw free agency. I don't even know what that world is like. You know what I mean? So when you've got good linemen, you keep them. So if they're available for, they're available for a reason, because, you know, especially the guy that got cut. If you got cut, what do you do? A Carmen Bracillo, the Titans' offensive line coach is considered one of the best offensive line coaches in the league. Now, that gives me a little PTSD because we said that about Bill Callahan, too.

But the Titans need to get into a point where they're drafting offensive linemen in the mid-rounds every single year so that they can develop guys so that when they do have an opening, they don't have to go overpay some mid-level below-average guy like Dan more in free agency. They can elevate their guy that they've been developing for a few years behind the scenes. So you're 100% right. That's why I'm not too keen on spending too much in free agency at offensive line. They need to start trying to create a pipeline through the draft. And like you mentioned, Tyler, I think we saw enough maybe from the O line that back end of the

season that a complete overhaul maybe won't be necessary. And the fact that they did spend some high draft picks on J.C. Latham and Peter Skoransky. I don't know about spending another one on like a Francis Malignola is going to be there. There might be some other needs there too that the team certainly needs pass rush or wide receiver, what have you. Okay. So we're going to answer some questions for you guys, viewers and listeners on the other side of the break. Make sure to stay with us here on the Titan Squad Show. Don't go anywhere. All right, this episode is brought to you by Better Help. February can be a lot, flowers, candy, stuffed animals, and so much talk about relationships. And it can honestly feel like everyone else has it all together in their love life.

But here's the truth. Whether you're married, dating, single, or just focusing on you, most people are still figuring it out. And no matter where you are in your romantic journey, therapy can help you find your way. It can help you get clear on what you want, what feels heavy, and how to take some pressure off of yourself. It's easy to assume everyone has the perfect relationship, but most people are working through something. BetterHelp has licensed therapists in the U.S., and they do initial matching work for you so you can focus on your goals. And if you want to switch therapists, you could do that any time. Just sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com slash locked on.

That's B-E-T-E-R-H-E-L-P-P-L-P-C-L-P-L-P. All right, fellas, wanted to answer some viewer questions that they have in the live chat. Zayukes, I think that's how you pronounce his name, says, what if Brian Dable makes Cam Ward get a bunch of concussions like he did with Jackson Dard? Brian Dable made Jackson DART run so much.

He kept getting concussions. Will Cam Ward be affected by it? Easy answer, no. Listen, here's a reality. Cam Ward can't run like Jackson Dart. Jackson Dart is a much more mobile and faster athlete than Cam Ward.

Jackson Dart can run. He can run QB counter, QB pounder, QB blast, QB sweep. Cam Ward is not going to do those things. Now, short yardage situation, Cam can run those things. It's third and one, it's third and two. You're on the goal line. But Cam Ward doesn't need to be

run in a pure QB run game like he's Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen, Jackson Dart. So Brian Dable did that because Jackson DART needed to do that to be successful. That was required. Dart wasn't a polished enough passer to read the defense from the pocket and make things happen. The best way to score points for the Giants was to use Jackson Darts legs. Cam Ward is not the same kind of athlete that Jackson DART is, so he's not going to be used in

that way. Cam Ward can run. We need him to scramble more. He did not scramble enough and take advantage of defenses, and I think it's because the game was going a little too fast for him. was just like, I got to get the ball out. I got to get the ball out. But once the game slowed down, we saw Cam Ward uses legs a lot more in the scramble realm later in the season. And Cam can do that again, short yardage, goal to go, stuff like that. But I'm not anywhere near concerned about that because

Jackson Dart needs to run to be effective. Cam Ward just needs to take advantage of what the defense is giving him, not have a pure QB run game. So I don't think that that's a real concern in my opinion. Yeah, that's that's a part of Jackson Darts game. That's a part of Lamar Jackson's game. That's a part of those quarterbacks that you know their legs are part of their repertoire, right? But for guys like Baker Mayfield, guys like Cam Ward, guys like even Patrick Mahomes, Patrick Mahomes ain't run away from anybody. He's just elusive. What they can do is take advantage of undisciplined pass rushes, get those tough yards when you turn your back to me.

Great. I can maybe even get you not only just a QB sneak, but a draw every now and then, but I'm not going to be running the RPO stuff. I'm not going to be, you know, trying to get to the edge and not running tall sweeps. I'm not going to call my own number and all that other stuff, right? But another thing, quarterbacks nowadays can be smart, you know, and avoiding danger. Slide, boy, take what the defense gives you. Now, if you want to get that tough yard and go face first,

understand there may be some repercussions. You know what I'm saying? That kind of deal. You can use the rules that have already been created to keep yourself safe because that's why they're there. Now, if you want to get reckless, you want to go in there and, you know, and get physical with some guys that are trying to knock your head off. And you know what? By all means, it'll take you a couple times to learn.

You know what I mean? But for the most part, I don't really feel that them trying to use another ability that cam has as an asset that totally makes sense and i hope he does tap into that because that's one thing that the three of us talked about them needing to do more of which was get cam involved in the run game not necessarily by by like a comparison a handoff standpoint you know what i mean where it's just exclusively going to him it was designed for him to run it's just like if stuff happens as the play breaks down you don't have to keep moving backwards to find someone downfield go forward you know what saying. If you pass the line of scrimmage, get

to as many yards as you can, and then get down. Get out of bounds. Whatever you need to do to be safe. And they did it with Tanahill. You know, it's the same thing. Just like they did what they did a little read option here and there with Tana Hill in short yardage. Tanahill ain't running around like Lamar Jackson or something, but he was still athletic enough to make defense

as honest. And Cam Ward keeps it a couple of times on the goal line. Next thing, you know, the running back has a bigger lane to go through because the backside defense event is worried about Cam Ward sneaking out the back. So it just all works together. And they just to be smart with it. And everything we've learned about Brian Davel so far is that he is very players not plays, which was an issue with Brian Callahan, trying to fit his system to the players

rather than tailor it to the players and their skill set that he has. So that is certainly something to watch out for. Troy, 1998 said, I was for picking an edge guy first. That means fourth overall in the first round. But being that we have cam, should we maybe go wide receiver? Like a Carnell Tate, Jordan Tyson, Casey Concepcion, then drop some serious cash on a trade or a free agent wide receiver playmaker. Well, the problem is free agency comes before the draft. So you can't say, hey, we're going to get this guy, we're going to get that guy. And you have the fourth pick. Yeah, you could say you want one of those guys. What if all three of those guys go before? Now, we know that's not going to happen because Fernando Mendoza is going to go one, but you just don't have

the control to plan it out like that, like it's Madden, you know what I mean? So in theory, yes, That makes sense. If they spend big money on an edge rusher in free agency, they go out and get Trey Hendrickson, or they get a Daffay-O-A or something like that, yeah, sure, that would make it easier to go. But I don't really think that you should think like that because it's not just about this year, it's about the future. If you think that the edge is a way better football player

and will be a way better football player than the wide receiver, still take the edge, whether you paid for an edge in free agency or not. So I like Jordan Tyson. He's the only wide receiver I'd feel truly comfortable with taking at four. Concepcion is a second round prospect to me, so I'm not, I can't put him in the number four overall conversation. But yes, in theory, you should be able to use your assets to hit edge and wide receiver. But I wouldn't, I wouldn't say Cam Ward's our quarterback, so we need to force a pick at wide receiver. If you have the edge rushers ranked higher on your board, take the

edge rushers because you still need that too. Yeah. I'm not so much, put this way. Calvin Ridley still in the roster. Just hear me out, okay? Hear me out. I think here's the guy that working with Brian Dayball and how he instructs and positions Cam Ward could definitely put Calvin Ridley in an advantageous situation. If he's healthy, the guy still can play.

He's only seven years into the league. You know what I mean? So he's in that veteran category that you want from a guy that you're looking for in that space. Elok Iymanor is going to be a tomorrow star. Tim D.K. is going to be, in my opinion, another really, really good player. So get more that you can't.

Like, remember when DeAndre Hopkins started bouncing around a little bit and, you know, he'd make a play here, make a play there? That's Calvin Ridley for you. That's what you want. So I think, you know, while we're looking for a replacement, um, or more maybe star caliber, someone that's a little more established that's worth, you know,

putting some free agent scratch on, I don't necessarily think that we need to even address that, especially when we're talking about systemically how different things will be with Brian Dayball in here. You know what I mean? I even think he's probably going to get more out of Taji Spears and Tony Pollard. So this is going to be really interesting

because those guys are going to be keys in the past game too. So I think we got a lot of weapons. And I think that honestly, I'm super excited to see Brian Dayball use Gunner Hill. I've said Gunnar Helm is the next patch of Mahomes. I promise you he is. That cat is the next Travis Kelsey, George Kittle, Mark Antch. He is the next dude.

And that's going to be a difference maker immensely. Well, here's a fun fact for you guys. Brian Daibel coached Calvin Ridley, Alabama in 2017. So if there's anybody who has a connection, and let me say this, Calvin Ridley may not be a number one wide receiver in the NFL anymore. He may not be a stud guy like that. But the Titans have $100 million in cap space. If there's nobody good in free agency who's better than,

and Calvin Ridley, you don't just cut Calvin Ridley to cut Calvin Ridley to cut him. That doesn't make any sense. And I don't think that it's like offensive line. Number one wide receivers in the NFL do not hit free agency. You have to trade for them or you have to draft them. They're not going to be there. Pickens ain't coming into free agency. He's going to get franchise tagged at minimum by Dallas.

So like you only cut Calvin Ridley if you're going to go out and trade for a Garrett Wilson, a Marvin Harrison Jr., a DJ Moore, somebody who's better than Calvin Ridley. And with all the money the Titans have, it's not like they're broke and they have to cut Calvin Ridley to carve out more money so they can do something. You can go out and get somebody in free agency at wide receiver and keep Calvin Ridley and have an embarrassment of riches and maybe you don't have a number one alpha, but you got a bunch of good guys and let me just say to the same Zooks or whatever,

he keeps asking about Devin Witherspoon. Devin Witherspoon is not a free agent. So they can't sign him in free agency. You're thinking of Tyreek Woolen. Witherpoon's not a free agent. So don't worry about that question, Julian. Sorry, man. he's not a free agent so there's your answer there but yeah

Calvin Ridley does not have to be cut they do not need the money and if there's nobody else better there's no reason to do it how the hell does Tyler actually have this dialogue going and reading the comments and still have I'm a pro baby this is what I do he pulled off the road as a get out of the car yeah yeah I just don't want to spend time answering a question that doesn't make sense I don't want to be rude but like

dude's not a free agent they can't sign him yeah no well That's why we're here. That's while we're here as well. And to the point about Brian devil, you mentioned that Alabama team, Tyler. He also had to manage the Jalen Hertz to a situation and, you know, come up with a game plan for their skill sets in the middle of the championship game. Absolutely. Like so that's also an advantage for the Titans, knowing that players not plays is certainly at the top of their list. And you know what? As one of the three players on this show, I hope to get an invite to Brad Hopkins penthouse suite in the Super Bowl one week,

but maybe we'll get there. Who knows? Not this year, but maybe T. Row and I will get there next year. Who know? And we're all going when the Titans go to the Super Bowl, baby. We're all going to do our show from the Radio Row.

Absolutely. All right, that's a good place to end. Thank you for joining us here in the Titans squad show. Make sure to like, comment, subscribe, all that fun stuff. Check up the Locked on Titans podcast with Tyler, be an everydayer for that. And for now, enjoy the Super Bowl, everybody. We'll see you guys later.