What Carthon and Vrabel should do this Offseason

[BudsOilers]

Cap Situation

Per OTC, the Titans are 23.3 M over the cap with 57 players under contract.

 

Cap Management

My goal here is to reload, not rebuild, so I’d like to see them cut the dead wood while being able to create enough cap space to address roster needs both in FA and the draft. 

 

• Tender Tart (RFA) at the 2nd round tender of 4.308 M, Brewer at the UDFA tender of 2.629 M, and Naquan Jones at the EFRA tender of 940 K.  Try to extend Tart if possible on a longer term deal and obviously the Brewer tender is somewhat hinged on the status of Jones as Brewer could slide into Center.
• Terminate the contracts of Dupree (9.35 M), Woods (12.023 M), Cunningham (8.927 M), Bullock (2.072 M).
• Standard restructure of Landry, freeing up 10.5 M in cap space.
• Extend Tannehill with a Derek Carr like Raider deal, freeing up 15 M in cap space with a two or three year commitment to him but structured in a way where there are annual outs if a decline warrants moving on.

 

Total Cap Savings of 57.872 M to leave the Titans with 28.9 M in cap space.

 

Note I did not touch Lewan’s contract.  I keep him on the roster at least until I address the spot in the draft or FA/trade.  The 14.8 M cap number isn’t prohibitive if he ends up being my LT for 2023 and I can cut/trade him at any time if I opt to move on.  I also don’t touch Ben Jones deal yet – Again, that’s 3.7 M or 6 M in cap space if he opts to retire.

 

Titans Free Agents

They have a number of FA’s because of all of the injuries so I’m not inclined to list every one.  The major guys are David Long, Mario Edwards Jr,, DeMarcus Walker on defense and Nate Davis and Dontrell Hilliard on offense.  I guess one could throw Dobbs in there too to camp battle for the #2 spot and perhaps you bring back Levin or Roos as interior depth.  LS Cox is a FA – maybe they re-sign him or perhaps they go younger/cheaper at that spot.

 

Free Agency Strategy

I’m inclined to make efforts to re-sign Nate Davis and David Long.  Granted, there are price limits for both.  Davis actually did play well and was much improved in pass protection even though it was overshadowed by how bad everyone else was.  Long is a 3 down backer who makes impact plays.  He could get priced out of Nashville but he by far was their best LB when healthy.

I’m not a fan of winning the 1st wave of FA.  Those deals hardly ever pay off paying great money for good players.  That said, they can add some players that fit the needs and schemes without breaking the bank.

 

I like the idea of George Fant from the Jets as a LT/RT option.  At worst, he’s your swing Tackle but he’s viable enough as a LT option either in the scenario he’s a bridge to a rookie or against Lewan if you opt to keep him for 2023.  He also can be competition for Petit-Frere at RT.  Dilliard from Philly offers a similar appeal.

 

I look at the G market to add a starter, especially if Davis walks.  There are some viable guys out there like Powers, Semalu, and Risner out there. You also still have Jamarcus Jones under contract and you could also see if Radunz could make a run at a starting G spot (LG or RG) depending on how things shake out.

 

At center, if Jones is gone, I think you can let Brewer and Levin battle it out and they’d be OK. 

 

WR is an area that probably doesn’t offer a ton of options in FA but the two guys that interest me some is Chark and Hardeman.  If Nagy ends up getting the OC gig, Hardman could have some appeal.  Either guy has deep speed that the Titans currently don’t have beyond McMath, who IMO is not going to be a viable option.

 

TE is a spot they could use a good inline TE option.  Will Dissly of Seattle could be a fit.  Good blocker and a pretty good receiver – a big upgrade over Swaim.  Hurst from Cincy would be a bigger guy to consider but I think they’d rather not go there price wise. 

 

On defense, I feel comfortable that they can find fits for the scheme.  With Dupree gone, they can use another edge guy.  I’d try to re-sign Walker but SF has a couple of Edge FA’s that could also fit in Ebukan and Omenighu.  They could bring in another CB if the price is right – again not a big spend but a scheme fit.  In wave 2, there should be affordable options.

 

Draft Strategy

Ideally you go into the draft not having to force anything albeit they definitely will be targeting OL, WE, and TE but you can also make compelling cases for an Edge rusher, CB, and LB depending on how FA goes.  Maybe a day 3 back.  Same for QBOTF is the board falls right.

 

End Result

In this plan, the Titans enter the draft with Lewan as a chip of sorts – a 14.8 M asset that one can use for insurance, If you land a stud LT in the draft, you can move on and either parlay him into draft capital or as a mechanism to add another veteran player – presumably a starter at perhaps WR or CB if the opportunity is there.

 

You end up with a healthy Tannehill at QB and Henry at RB with an improved OL, add talent at WR plus you have Burks and Philips in year 2, an in-line TE or 2 along with Chig in year 2.  On defense, you’re really banking on Landry, Simmons, and Autry to come back healthy and put forth a pass rush and run stop group that can potentially be top 5. Kicker is a question albeit Shudak is still here.  Bring in competition and try to get a younger long term option. 

 

The plan does not mortgage the future and enables the team to contend in the AFC immediately. 

Edited January 28, 2023 by BudsOilers

[IowaOiler]

Not bad.  The board knows my thoughts on the offensive philosophy so I think at this point, personnel is just an attempt to polish diarrhea, but if polishing is what we are trying, this is a solid plan.

[tgo]

Is Dissly expected to be a cap casualty in Seattle? 
 

Good, reasonable plan but I think you absolutely have to cut Lewan - they should have cut him last offseason. 

[IowaOiler]

1 minute ago, tgo said:

Is Dissly expected to be a cap casualty in Seattle? 
 

Good, reasonable plan but I think you absolutely have to cut Lewan - they should have cut him last offseason. 

 

Yeah, I agree he should have been cut last season.  He's a solid LT when he's on the field, but he's walked off at least once every game, even when he's healthy.  

[IsntLifeFunny]

I'd offer Lewan with a straight pay cut before the draft. If he doesn't accept it then move on and the 11th pick is an LT. If he does it opens up some more options, but you still have to cover for him with the hope he's the swing tackle by the end of the year either by signing another option or still drafting a tackle high. What it allows though is the option to truly go BPA instead if being pigeonholed into LT at 11. 

 

 

[tgo]

Re: Lewan - there's just no education in the third kick of a mule.

[BudsOilers]

Dissly isn’t a FA thought he only signed a one year deal

[AussieTitanFan08]

Still don't get this fascination with keeping Lewan around.

[BudsOilers]

The whole Lewan situation is to hold the asset until you know you have a replacement as opposed to using it as a cut to get under the cap.  It could work out that you dry up his options to force a pay cut or you use it as money to either have for post June /in season moves or adding a vet available via trade

[BudsOilers]

1 minute ago, AussieTitanFan08 said:

Still don't get this fascination with keeping Lewan around.

Simple - if healthy he’s a quality starter.  

[rns90]

If you're going to sign a guy who can  start at LT, I'd just dump Lewan and use the savings on another player in FA--offense or defense.  I don't think they are locked into a LT at that point in the draft.  Remember Autry is in the last year of his contract, Dupree is gone.  And if there is an EDGE who has fell because of a run on position X, it's tempting to take one and wait till round 2 for the LT.

 

It's hard to know about the C Jones, he's probably retiring but who knows. 

[AussieTitanFan08]

Just now, BudsOilers said:

Simple - if healthy he’s a quality starter.  

 

He simply can't stay healthy.

[Justafan]

Agree with most but Lewan is done.  I would rather them hold on to Woods as insurance than Lewan.  

[oldschool]

7 hours ago, BudsOilers said:

Simple - if healthy he’s a quality starter.  

 

but he can't stay healthy.... 

[ctm]

The risk for another injury for Lewan is too high. Limit the signing of injured players.  Enough of that.

 

I wouldn't extend RT in March.  I'd wait as long as possible, probably late season, to decide whether to extend him or go with a rookie in 2024.  I'd consider restructuring RT's base in March if the team wanted/needed the cap space.  I want to evaluate RT in 2023 with an improved supporting cast.  At the same time, evaluate the top 3-4 college QBs and determine if there was one that I liked and had a reasonable chance to acquire.  Then balance the pros/cons of RT vs. a rookie.  I also get it that this plan might allow RT to enter 2024 free agency, but I think he'd stay here, if that is the decision, if offered a market deal late season.  It's a risk I'm willing to assume.