Be Jon Robinson - Titans Opt-Outs

[code]

Titans have a number of veteran starters who have buy-out clauses this offseason. We don't know what the salary cap will be in 2021.

But there is always some desire to create cap space to add an impact player or two.   Here they are, what would you do:

 

Derrick Henry will be 27 next year. He is on the books for the next three - 13,500,000, 15,000,000, 15,500,000. Lots of cheese for a running back.

If he were to be bought out, Titans have Evans and McNichols on roster as replacement.  

CODE: No-brainer. Retain Henry. No signs of slowing down. Even if injured next season and never the same again, he is worth the risk.

 

Adam Humphries will be 28 next season. He is on the books for two more years at $9,750,000 and $11.250,000.  If he is let go the receivers under contract as of today are AJ Brown, Cam Batson, Chester Rodgers, Cody Holister and Rashard Davis. Of course, if he is let go his contract dollars can be directed elsewhere. 

CODE: He has been the worst thing an NFL player can be - unavailable. More to the point, that hit to the head he took was one of the more violent brain-shaking actions I have seen. Nothing against Humphries. Personally, if I were him, I would walk away while he still can. From a Titans perspective, they simply have to exercise his out and use the money to retain Corey Davis.  

 

Dennis Kelly. He will be 30 next year. Under contract from two more seasons, at $6,585,333 and $7,083,334. Ahh Isaiah Wilson you beautiful bastard. He was brought here to make the opt-out possible.  Now the Tackle spot on the roster is occupied by Lewan, Quessenberry, McKinney, Adams and Kern. 

CODE: Is Dennis Kelly worth $6.5 million? Probably not. But will we get similar production to his from Quessenberry switching to the right side? Can we trust Lewan to get through an entire season healthy? Can Isaiah Wilson grow up in four short months?  No opt-out here. Kelly must be retained.

 

Roger Saffold will be 33 next season. He has two years remaining at $12,375,000 and $12,875,000. Nate Davis starts on the other side and is under contract for 2 more years. Right now the only back up on the roster is Aaron Brewer.

CODE: Aaron Brewer has been surprisingly effective. Proof that size can be overrated in the NFL. But Saffold continues to produce at or near Pro Bowl level. Next off season Ben Jones will be a free agent. Would rather have the continuity of Jones, Saffold, Davis, Lewan and Kelly knowing that Brewer, Wilson and Quessenberry provide capable depth (well, 2 out of 3 aint bad).  No opt-out. Retain Saffold.

 

Malcolm Butler will be 31 next season. He is on the books for $14,200,000 and $14,350,000. Currently under contract on the roster for 2021 include Adoree Jackson, Kristian Fulton, Kareem Orr and Chris Jackson. Breon Borders is an exclusive rights free agent.

CODE: This is buy-out I would expect that the GM would have liked to be able to exercise this off-season. But then we never truly got to see other Fulton is an NFL DB, and we never saw a healthy return of Adoree Jackson who enters 2021 in his last contract year. Desmond King and Tye Smith are also free to explore other options. What I love about Malcolm Butler is his competitive nature.  He is not afraid. He is also not a $14 million DB.  I would very much like to have him back. And I would be willing to extend him a year - if Titans can lower his cap costs - maybe to $10 million annual for 3-years as opposed to the $28 million he will get for 2. I suspect that isn't a deal he would love, but might be a deal he can take.

 

Kenny Vacarro will be 30 next season. He is due $7,000,000 and $7,500,000 for the next two seasons. Titans roster will still have Amani Hooker and the returning from injury Dane Cruikshank. 

CODE: Vacarro is at risk for me if the salary cap rolls back in 2021. I don't hate the player at the value. I do think Hooker is more than capable of getting starters minutes. The Byard deal looks to be a bit of an albatross at this moment. So $24,000,000+ tied up at the Safety position if it isn't producing impact is out of whack with general roster construction.  I think this deal is impacted by Butler situation. If Titans choose to opt-in in Butler contract, I think they opt out on Vacarro. I would guess the reverse holds true as well.

 

Thoughts?

[titanskick8851]

It is very tough to see them being able to re-construct the roster with only cuts to Humphries, Vaccaro, and Butler. They are going to need to renegotiate and restructure several players deals (Tannehill/Henry/Lewan). They only have 11 players on the roster set to earn more than $4M, so there aren't many players to ask to restructure. 

 

I personally think they have to make a decision between Adoree and Malcolm. One is younger/injury prone, while the other is only, but one of the main playmakers. They can cut Adoree (assuming he passes a physical) and free up $10M as well. Adoree had a brief streak of playing well in the playoffs last year, but has been banged up for much of two years now. No way would I want them to re-sign him to a long-term deal at this point. His lack of ball skills is glaring as well. If the defense is going to be bad, I would rather us have younger guys out there developing then putting big money into the position and those players not contributing due to injuries or other issues.

 

I think on the OL they are really going to have to think about Saffold long and hard. I don't think they want to cut him, but if they are struggling to find the space they could very well move on a year too early, rather than a year too late.

 

Hump and Vaccaro are no brainers to cut at this point. You basically have to keep Kelly due to the injury to Lewan, lack of depth, and the waste of a pick that was Isaiah Wilson.

[titanskick8851]

As a note as far as positional spending goes, we have a lot of money in:

 

Secondary - 9 players under contract - $51,368,322 devoted to the cap - 28.79% of the cap - #1 in spending at this position group in the league

Offensive Line - 12 players under contract - $48,345,153 devoted to the cap - 27.10% of the cap - #7 in spending at this position group in the league

 

Those are the two groups that are in need of the most changes in terms of dollars. Those two position groups cover more than half of the teams salary.

Edited January 13 by titanskick8851

[ctm]

9 minutes ago, titanskick8851 said:

It is very tough to see them being able to re-construct the roster with only cuts to Humphries, Vaccaro, and Butler. They are going to need to renegotiate and restructure several players deals (Tannehill/Henry/Lewan). They only have 11 players on the roster set to earn more than $4M, so there aren't many players to ask to restructure. 

 

I personally think they have to make a decision between Adoree and Malcolm. One is younger/injury prone, while the other is only, but one of the main playmakers. They can cut Adoree (assuming he passes a physical) and free up $10M as well. Adoree had a brief streak of playing well in the playoffs last year, but has been banged up for much of two years now. No way would I want them to re-sign him to a long-term deal at this point. His lack of ball skills is glaring as well. If the defense is going to be bad, I would rather us have younger guys out there developing then putting big money into the position and those players not contributing due to injuries or other issues.

 

I think on the OL they are really going to have to think about Saffold long and hard. I don't think they want to cut him, but if they are struggling to find the space they could very well move on a year too early, rather than a year too late.

 

Hump and Vaccaro are no brainers to cut at this point. You basically have to keep Kelly due to the injury to Lewan, lack of depth, and the waste of a pick that was Isaiah Wilson.

 

Don't disagree with anything other than the restructures.  While it sounds attractive, what does a restructured contract for these guys look like down the road?   The 2022 cap numbers are: Tannehill 34M, Henry 15M, and Lewan 15M.  Are you sure that you want to increase those numbers?

[titanskick8851]

8 minutes ago, ctm said:

 

Don't disagree with anything other than the restructures.  While it sounds attractive, what does a restructured contract for these guys look like down the road?   The 2022 cap numbers are: Tannehill 34M, Henry 15M, and Lewan 15M.  Are you sure that you want to increase those numbers?

 

Oh no I definitely know that there are drawbacks, but as I said you only really have 11 players who can really, possibly restructure.

 

Take away Tannehill/Henry/Lewan.

Can't ask Byard as he already restructured earlier in the year.

Adoree - Maybe you can ask for him to restructure the deal, but with his injury history he doesn't have to. Only options is keeping him or cutting him (if healthy).

Ben Jones and Dennis Kelly - Maybe they would if you add an extra year?

 

Then you are just left with the guys that are at most risk of being cap casualties; Butler, Vaccaro, Humphries, and Saffold. We know Vaccaro and Hump are basically gone. So biggest question is the debate between Butler/Adoree and then what can you do between Jones/Kelly/Saffold in terms of freeing up money.

 

 

Edited January 13 by titanskick8851

[Thrill]

18 minutes ago, titanskick8851 said:

As a note as far as positional spending goes, we have a lot of money in:

 

Secondary - 9 players under contract - $51,368,322 devoted to the cap - 28.79% of the cap - #1 in spending at this position group in the league

Offensive Line - 12 players under contract - $48,345,153 devoted to the cap - 27.10% of the cap - #7 in spending at this position group in the league

 

Those are the two groups that are in need of the most changes in terms of dollars. Those two position groups cover more than half of the teams salary.

With how bad our secondary was, I see Vacarro gone and probably Butler as well. It’s a shame because I love Butler but we have to roll the dice on Adoree and Fulton if we want to resign any of our guys most likely.
 

Unless we can work out a deal with him where this upcoming year is guaranteed at a lower cap number (say 9 million) and then in 2022 he has a guaranteed 5 million. That way he still gets his money for next year but we pay a third of it in 2022 and can still cut the rest of his base 14 million in 2022. It’d be the same money overall for him either way so I can’t see it being too big of an issue.

Edited January 13 by Thrill

[rns90]

You can't bring back Vaccaro (performance) or Kelly.  Tannehill would be pretty safe,imo, to restructure as QB play usually doesn't dip as much as the other positions.  Not restructuring Henry.  I guess they could restructure Lewan.

 

I'd like to restructure Butler but I can understand why they'd cut him loose.  That being said, they'd better have a more solid backup CB group or plan if Jackson flames out in 2021.

[ctm]

4 minutes ago, titanskick8851 said:

 

Oh no I definitely know that there are drawbacks, but as I said you only really have 11 players who can really, possibly restructure.

 

Take away Tannehill/Henry/Lewan.

Can't ask Byard as he already restructured earlier in the year.

Adoree - Maybe you can ask for him to restructure the deal, but with his injury history he doesn't have to. Only options is keeping him or cutting him (if healthy).

Ben Jones and Dennis Kelly - Maybe they would if you add an extra year?

 

Then you are just left with the guys that are at most risk of being cap casualties; Butler, Vaccaro, Humphries, and Saffold. We know Vaccaro and Hump are basically gone. So biggest question is the debate between Butler/Adoree and then what can you do between Jones/Kelly/Saffold in terms of freeing up money.

 

 

 

Maybe the team just isn't very active in free agency and they wait a year till the salary cap recovers.  They should have enough space to sign Davis and/or Smith, draft primarily defense and then sign a few bargain depth players in free agency to fill out the bottom of the depth chart.

[rns90]

I think they'll be active but chase the mid level, lower tier FA, which is where most of the "bang for the buck types" are anyway.

[AvgJoe]

I really want to know if Adoree was healthy these last few weeks. Between the horrific play there and the total lack of awareness in the NE playoff game last year, it is a mistake for him to be our top CB. All things considered and if Adoree was healthy this past two weeks, I’d rather trade him and keep an older Butler. 
 

We need more players with Butler’s edge AND production, not less

[titanskick8851]

6 minutes ago, ctm said:

 

Maybe the team just isn't very active in free agency and they wait a year till the salary cap recovers.  They should have enough space to sign Davis and/or Smith, draft primarily defense and then sign a few bargain depth players in free agency to fill out the bottom of the depth chart.

Definitely possible. I am in the camp that I want us to totally re-start on defense. You Jeff Simmons on the DL and Byard at Safety. Other than that they need to make the changes necessary. Hopefully Hooker steps up into a more permanent role, Long continues to improve, and Landry is able to actually rush more and given some breathers. 

[AvgJoe]

Landry’s only issue was he played too many snaps, that is on the coaches. He is a good pass rusher

[titanskick8851]

1 minute ago, AvgJoe said:

I really want to know if Adoree was healthy these last few weeks. Between the horrific play there and the total lack of awareness in the NE playoff game last year, it is a mistake for him to be our top CB. All things considered and if Adoree was healthy this past two weeks, I’d rather trade him and keep an older Butler. 
 

We need more players with Butler’s edge AND production, not less

 

Yep, I think its fair to say that Adoree as CB1 vs top WRs isnt going to happen. He doesn't have the skillset or ball awareness to make that kind of game changing impact. Going into next year thinking that he is up for that challenge when he hasn't done well in that spot would be silly and insane. Some people can blame injury, but I have also always been a big "your best ability, is your availability" and if you are going to count for more than $10M against the cap you have to be an impact player. Honestly, even though he got burnt a bit, Borders play was just as good as Adoree's was. Speed is great and all, except when you can't locate the ball or make any plays with the ball in the air.

[tgo]

Cut Humphries, Vaccaro, Kelly, Butler. 

 

Keep Saffold. 

 

Kelly is the toughest call though with the Isaiah Wilson situation, but I think we could replicate Kelly's "success" with Sambrailo or Quessenberry or maybe even Newhouse until a rookie is ready (we definitely need to draft a RT in the mid rounds at least). 

Edited January 13 by tgo

[ctm]

1 minute ago, titanskick8851 said:

Definitely possible. I am in the camp that I want us to totally re-start on defense. You Jeff Simmons on the DL and Byard at Safety. Other than that they need to make the changes necessary. Hopefully Hooker steps up into a more permanent role, Long continues to improve, and Landry is able to actually rush more and given some breathers. 

 

I can see the 1st 4 draft picks on defense:  DL, OLB, ILB, slot CB, in no particular order.  Then they still need some depth behind them.

 

Bottom line to me....everything depends on the actual cap number and what they decide to do about Wilson and the RT spot.  Both are unknowns as of today.