Tennessee Titans face down massive offseason overhaul

It’s not easy to keep the band together, which is exactly what the Tennessee Titans will attempt to do as they face a massive overhaul this offseason.

The 2019 season was a wild ride for Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans. It started with Marcus Mariota behind center and losses in four of their first six games. It ended with Ryan Tannehill tearing defenses apart, Derrick Henry looking like the best running back in football, and an appearance in the AFC championship game. Now, the offseason looms with a lot of work for the front office.

With more than $50 million in cap space and a ton more able to be acquired rather easily with logical cap cuts, you would think Tennessee is in prime position. Yet the Titans are facing a massive overhaul that won’t easily be avoided. They can do it, but damn will it be hard as so many top players hit free agency.

Tennessee can easily add to the $50 million it currently has in cap space by doing some of or all of the following:

• Cutting the disappointing Malcolm Butler saves $7+ million, though another $6 million is already dead money.
• Delanie Walker and Dion Lewis can be cut to save a combined $10.5 million.
• Cameron Wake can be released for another $6 million in savings.
• DaQuan Jones can even be cut for a $7 million savings.

Though all those moves are unlikely, they can free up another $30+ million to work with. The Tennessee Titans will need every dollar as they face down a massive offseason overhaul, attempting to avoid a reset of one of last year’s most successful teams.

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the Tennessee Titans in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

The cap space is all well and good for the Titans. It is preferable to have cap space to work with than none at all. But one of the reasons Tennessee has so much room under the cap is because of all the players set to hit free agency.

All of Derrick Henry, Jack Conklin, Ryan Tannehill, Marcus Mariota, Logan Ryan and a number of depth pieces in the back eight on defense are all pending free agents. Can/would the Titans work to bring all these starters back (minus Mariota, of course)? If so, what’s left of that cap space to fill other needs?

It is hard to parse out who the team would actually move on from. Henry seems like a no-brainer to return after the year he just had. Tannehill feels the same, though he has less history with the club obviously. Conklin and Ryan would seem like definite returnees as well. If not, all these guys would have to be replaced through free agency or the draft it would seem. There aren’t clear-cut replacements at a cheaper rate in-house.

Siphoning off the cap space piece by piece leaves less to address other holes, like offensive skill players and cornerback. If some of my cuts happen, there is room to improve the overall roster, but those players would need to be replaced as well. All of Walker, Lewis, Wake and Butler don’t seem worth their contracts, but they are all rotation pieces on the current club or outright starters. That is a problem in and of itself.

If the four main free-agent starters are brought back, this team will be in a good position to repeat on last year’s success despite smaller moves that will need to be made. If not, Tennessee could look entirely different in 2020, and it may not be for the better — all the Tom Brady rumors be damned.

Dan Salem:

Unlike the other members of our ‘Final Four’ from last season, the Tennessee Titans are facing a ton of turnover and way too many free agents to retain. This team won last year with a great running game and outstanding defense. If they succeed again in 2020, it will be for those same two reasons.

Keeping their winning formula intact is the only goal of the Titans this offseason. That means Henry, Conklin and Ryan all return to Tennessee on new deals. I’m not so sure about Tannehill, who has a history riddled with injuries and a poor track record of maintaining his health. Tannehill was the perfect quarterback for the Titans last season, but he did not play the entire year.

His last full season was back in 2015. Tannehill began his career in Miami with four full seasons of play and zero winning records, but has since started only 13, 0, 11 and 10 games, respectively, in each of the last four years. He’s likely to command more than Tennessee is willing to pay him.

If Tannehill gets overpaid by another team, then the Titans can look to add a Teddy Bridgewater type quarterback to lead their team. They need a solid player who can push the offense, but ultimately makes few mistakes and manages the game to perfection. They are a run-first team. Hopefully, Tannehill sees the light and takes a team-friendly deal to remain in Tennessee. The Titans will then require a solid backup because I don’t trust Tannehill to stay healthy.

Assuming they can keep their offensive core intact, as well as make all of the cuts you noted, the Titans have enough cap space to keep their team near the top of the AFC South. Unfortunately for Tennessee, history is not in their favor. Turnover in the South division has been the norm, with teams waffling up and down the standing from year to year.

It’s a highly competitive group of teams that can all win ten games, or lose ten games. One move often makes the difference. If I’m a Titans fan, I want them to go after that impact player on defense. Raise the stock of the team rather than run it back with what worked last season.