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Post by Juggs on Jan 11, 2015 19:38:59 GMT -5
Most other teams on this board have such a thread. I'll post updates here. Depth chart under contract in 2015: QB: Zach Mettenberger, Charlie Whitehurst, Alex Tanney HB: Bishop Sankey, Shonn Greene, Dexter McCluster, Antonio Andrews, Lache Seastrunk FB: Dorin Dickerson WR: Kendall Wright, Justin Hunter, Josh Stewart, Rico Richardson TE: Delanie Walker, Craig Stevens, Taylor Thompson LT: Taylor Lewan, William Poehls, LG: Andy Levitre, Justin McCray C: Brian Schwenke, Gabe Ikard RG: Chance Warmack, Eric Olson, RT: Michael Oher, Terren Jones DT: Jurrell Casey, NT: Sammie Hill, Al Woods RE: Ropati Pitoitua, Ropati Pitoitua, Mike Martin, DaQuan Jones, Chaz Sutton LOLB: Derrick Morgan, Dontay Moch LILB: Zach Brown, Wesley Woodyard, Yawin Smallwood RILB: Avery Williamson, Zaviar Gooden, Justin Staples ROLB: Kamerion Wimbley, Nate Askew CB: Jason McCourty, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Coty Sensabaugh, Marqueston Huff, Khalid Wooten, RiShard Anderson, Jemea Thomas, FS: Michael Griffin SS: Bernard Pollard, Damion Stafford K: P: LS: Free agent expiring contracts: www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/tennessee-titans/Notables: QB: Jake Locker HB/KR: Leon Washington WR Nate Washington FB: Jackie Battle TE: Chris Coffman LT: Michael Roos C: Chris Spencer LB: Colin McCarthy, Quentin Groves CB: Brandon Harris FS: George Wilson K: Ryan Succop P: Brett Kern LS: Beau Brinkley I don't see Tennessee re-signing any one of their own players besides these. Nate Washington is very likely to re-sign. So is Jackie Battle, Brett Kern, Beau Brinkley and Leon Washington. Nate might leave if the Titans spend big money on a free agent WR, but as that is unlikely, he will probably be back. Draft selections: 1.02 2.01 3.02 3.XX (likely for Alteraun Verner) 4.01 4.XX (likely for Chris Johnson) 5.02 6.01 6.XX (owned by the New England Patriots. Will fall between 29-32) The Titans lost 6 more UFAs than they gained in the 2014 offseason, and no contracts they brought in match the $/yr value for what Alteraun Verner and Chris Johnson got from the Bucs and Jets. This suggests that Tennessee will earn two high comp picks and possibly several lower picks. Only a few third round picks are given per year, but Verner was considered a top 10 free agent signing and he received more than 8 million per year from Tampa Bay. Whether or not the pick is in round 3 or 4, Tennessee will get something for Verner, which is great news because we have plenty of holes. Coaching staff under contract as of 1/11/2015: HC: Ken Whisenhunt OC: Jason Michael ST: Nate Kaczor DC: Ray Horton QB: John McNulty RB: Sylvester Croom WR: Shawn Jefferson TE: Mike Mularkey OL: Bob Bostad DL: Gif Smith LB: Lou Spanos DB: Louie Cioffi Hey Dick LeBeau, want to be a consultant? LOL I'd take him as HC or DC but I know that won't happen. Tennessee is too proud. That said, Dick LeBeau has connections with Ken Whisenhunt and Ray Horton and many have speculated that Tennessee would be landing spot #1 if LeBeau is not offered an HC position somewhere. Titans 2014 Season Performance: 2-14 Beat Kansas City and Jacksonville Lost to Indy 2x, Houston 2x, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincy, Cleveland, New York, Dallas, Philly, New York and Washington.
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Post by Juggs on Jan 11, 2015 19:47:17 GMT -5
The Titans coaching staff will coach the north squad at the Senior Bowl. The Jaguars will coach the south. Here are the notable players who Tennessee will get to work with:
Kevin White, WR, WVU Hau'oli Kikaha, OLB, Washington Ty Montgomery, WR, Stanford Quandre Diggs, CB, Texas Markus Golden, DE, Missouri Owamagbe Odighizuwa, DT, UCLA Steven Nelson, CB, Oregon State David Cobb, RB, Minnesota Hroniss Grasu, C, Oregon Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State TJ Clemmings, OT, Pitt Danny Shelton, NT, Washington Nate Orchard, OLB, Utah Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska Paul Dawson, LB, TCU Laken Tomlinson, G, Duke Jamison Crowder, WR, Duke Kurtis Drummond, S, Michigan State Jeremy Langford, RB, Michigan State, EJ Bibbs, TE, Iowa State Devin Smith, WR, Ohio State
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Post by Juggs on Jan 11, 2015 20:08:37 GMT -5
Titans biggest needs heading into the offseason:
According to fan polling: Quarterback Offensive line Cornerback Linebackers Safety Runningbacks Receivers Special Teams (ironic, since we don't have a K or P on the roster) Defensive Line
My opinion: Linebackers Avery Williamson was dominant as a rookie and will start in 2015 barring an injury. No other spot is certain. Wimbley should be cut, Zach Brown and Wes Woodyard should battle for the other spot, and Derrick Morgan is in a contract-option situation. We need depth at all four spots.
Cornerbacks Jason McCourty had the worst year of his career but is still a top 16 CB in the NFL. Past him, we lack a reliable option. Marqueston Huff and Blidi Wreh-Wilson could develop into great players, but the rest are deep depth at best. I expect Tennessee to sign a free agent to play alongside McCourty and let the other two develop. No need to spend a high draft pick when our backups are so young.
Offensive Line It's complicated. Brian Schwenke is great when healthy, Taylor Lewan is amazing, and we have too much $ in Andy Levitre. Chance Warmack is a top 10 guard in the league as well, but Michael Oher will not start at RT, and we likely need a starting C along with depth at all positions.
Quarterback It's complicated. If the team rolls with Zach Mettenberger as the starter, then we only need a backup. I expect that to happen. Whitehurst should be cut and replaced, but unless the Titans fall in love with Winston or Mariota, we won't change our starter.
Receivers Kendall Wright is a potential elite NFL wide receiver. His combination of speed, route running, and most of all, elusiveness is extremely rare. He hasn't produced at that level, but if we solve our quarterback issues, Wright could be an entire corps by himself. Behind him, we only have Justin Hunter who played poorly this season and got injured, but was amazing his rookie year and stayed healthy. We really need depth and one more reliable option behind Wright. That will allow Hunter to maintain his role as a special deep threat. Delanie Walker had statistically one of the best tight ends in the NFL, and he's a great blocker, along with being our team MVP in 2014.
Special Teams: This will be easily resolved, but both our kicker and punter are free agents. Both were very good and are likely to be resigned. Dexter McCluster will probably be our kick returner unless Washington is resigned.
---------------------------------------------------- Below this line, I wouldn't qualify the position as a dire need. Our starters will most likely be retained and will keep starting.
Safety: Michael Griffin has been inconsistent in his career, but he was once a top 5 FS, and he could return to his former pro bowl level. He should be the starter. Bernard Pollard will continue to start and he is an excellent SS. Fans who only know him for injuring players assume he is an in the box specialist, but actually, he is great in coverage and does not frequently play in the box. The Titans also have a great backup SS in Daimion Stafford who played well in Pollard's absence in 2014. The only reason this need isn't lower is because Pollard missed most of 2014 and many fans expect Michael Griffin to be cut. I don't think he will, but if he is, then FS becomes a glaring hole.
Runningback Despite most thinking Bishop Sankey didn't play well, his 3.9 YPC was actually better than all but two rookies in 2014. His performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football showed that he is likely a do-it-all back who will lead the Titans in rushing for years to come. He played behind an offensive line that was at the 4th string at LT and C, and he was consistently sharing carries with runningbacks he should not have been, but did because of abysmal offensive coaching. The Titans have their starter, and Dexter McCluster and Shonn Greene are capable backups. Greene may be cut, which would require an addition, unless the Titans are excited about Lache Seastrunk or Antonio Andrews, two fan favorites.
D-line: Jurrell Casey is basically the entire group. He played all but 2 snaps for Tennessee and should have made the pro-bowl, but was egregiously snubbed because of Tennessee's small market. Sammie Hill and Ropati Pitoitua both had career years and are decent starters. Unfortunately, Karl Klug is a free agent. He has been very productive even though he rarely plays. Replacing him and finding a backup for Jurrell Casey are the only needs here.
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Post by Juggs on Jan 11, 2015 20:26:44 GMT -5
Titans who are likely to be cut:
#1: RB, Shonn Greene. 3.35 million dollar savings in 2015
Greene had an abysmal 2014 season, even surpassing how bad he was in 2013. Whisenhunt's insistence on his domination of snaps sunk the Titans running game in the first half of the season, and to some extent the second half as well.
#2: TE/H-Back Craig Stevens. 3.5 million Stevens is an over paid third string tight end. He is a good blocker but offers nothing as a WR. He caught just two passes this season and none in 2013. Delanie Walker plays almost every snap and is a better blocker than Stevens in addition to being an elite receiving tight end.
#3. QB Charlie Whitehurst. Whitehurst was horrible in relief of Jake Locker and was almost immediately benched for an unproven 6th round rookie who took the job and kept it. Clipboard Jesus offers no real value and should not be on the roster. The only reason he might be is because he and coach Ken have worked together before and he knows the system well (but not well enough not to suck).
#4. Al Woods. 2.1 million Woods is a decent backup nose tackle, but he isn't a fit for Ray Horton's 3-4 and he is significantly overpaid. He barely played in 2014, and assuming Sammie Hill plays the majority of snaps again, Tennessee will cut him in favor of a cheaper backup option.
#5. Andy Levitre. 5 million Levitre was mediocre in 2014 and is making nearly 9 million dollars. That should result in an automatic cut. However, his contract goes through 2018 and so Tennessee would owe nearly 4 million in dead money. That would be the largest single amount accrued in franchise history. He will likely stay on because of his contact.
#6 Michael Oher. 2 million The Titans would actually pay more dead money than they would save in cap, but this is still a possibility. This is because Oher was so bad in 2014 that he would not make the Titans 53 man roster if money weren't a factor, and they still do save 2 million because of the insane 5.6 mill he's owed in 2015. This leaves us without an answer at RT again, meaning we will need to waste a draft pick or sign a FA because of a bad call by our GM.
#7: Sammie Hill 4 mil. This would only happen if tennessee were in total rebuild mode and didn't care about 2015 AT ALL, or if they fell in love with Al Woods or a NT late in the draft. The only reason it might happen is because of Hill's very team favorable contract, which would leave almost no dead money for the Titans to deal with.
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Post by Juggs on Jan 12, 2015 15:45:03 GMT -5
The Titans enter the 2015 offseason with the 5th most salary cap space at an astonishing $41,350,599. The bad news is that two of the Titans divisional rivals, the Colts and Jaguars, are well set up too. The Jags lead the league with over 63 million in space while the Colts are just behind the Titans at 39.5 million. All the results can be found here: overthecap.com/salary-cap-spaceOne consolation is that the Titans have almost no contracts they need to resign. Michael Roos, Derrick Morgan and Nate Washington would be nice, but the team could survive without them. The Colts are losing Reggie Wayne, Hakeem Nicks and Cory Redding, all of whom would get big deals if the Colts kept them. The Colts were also skating by with Jurrell Freeman at the veteran minimum, but he will get a huge contract if he stays there. The Colts will still have plenty of money after all those moves, but their number is a bit inflated.
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Post by Morkim on Jan 12, 2015 18:39:16 GMT -5
The Titans enter the 2015 offseason with the 5th most salary cap space at an astonishing $41,350,599. The bad news is that two of the Titans divisional rivals, the Colts and Jaguars, are well set up too. The Jags lead the league with over 63 million in space while the Colts are just behind the Titans at 39.5 million. All the results can be found here: overthecap.com/salary-cap-spaceOne consolation is that the Titans have almost no contracts they need to resign. Michael Roos, Derrick Morgan and Nate Washington would be nice, but the team could survive without them. The Colts are losing Reggie Wayne, Hakeem Nicks and Cory Redding, all of whom would get big deals if the Colts kept them. The Colts were also skating by with Jurrell Freeman at the veteran minimum, but he will get a huge contract if he stays there. The Colts will still have plenty of money after all those moves, but their number is a bit inflated. Did you really say Nicks and/or Wayne would get big deals?
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Post by Juggs on Jan 12, 2015 21:29:23 GMT -5
The Titans enter the 2015 offseason with the 5th most salary cap space at an astonishing $41,350,599. The bad news is that two of the Titans divisional rivals, the Colts and Jaguars, are well set up too. The Jags lead the league with over 63 million in space while the Colts are just behind the Titans at 39.5 million. All the results can be found here: overthecap.com/salary-cap-spaceOne consolation is that the Titans have almost no contracts they need to resign. Michael Roos, Derrick Morgan and Nate Washington would be nice, but the team could survive without them. The Colts are losing Reggie Wayne, Hakeem Nicks and Cory Redding, all of whom would get big deals if the Colts kept them. The Colts were also skating by with Jurrell Freeman at the veteran minimum, but he will get a huge contract if he stays there. The Colts will still have plenty of money after all those moves, but their number is a bit inflated. Did you really say Nicks and/or Wayne would get big deals? Nicks got a big deal last time, and Wayne is still good. I bet both get 4 mil+ if they stay in Indy, less if they go elsewhere. Wayne is old and so is Redding, which will up the # per year and lower the # of years, I would guess.
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Post by Morkim on Jan 12, 2015 21:36:35 GMT -5
Did you really say Nicks and/or Wayne would get big deals? Nicks got a big deal last time, and Wayne is still good. I bet both get 4 mil+ if they stay in Indy, less if they go elsewhere. Wayne is old and so is Redding, which will up the # per year and lower the # of years, I would guess. Oh, here I didn't know you thought 1 year for 3.5 was "big" for a WR. lol They will both average less than 4.
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Post by Juggs on Jan 12, 2015 21:45:52 GMT -5
Nicks got a big deal last time, and Wayne is still good. I bet both get 4 mil+ if they stay in Indy, less if they go elsewhere. Wayne is old and so is Redding, which will up the # per year and lower the # of years, I would guess. Oh, here I didn't know you thought 1 year for 3.5 was "big" for a WR. lol They will both average less than 4. If they both average 4 mil, and you take out what they need for rookies, then those two are about one quarter of their space. And there's Redding and Freeman and a few other guys they will resign. I'm not suggesting they'll be strapped for money, just that the # is inflated right now by about $10 million.
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Post by Morkim on Jan 12, 2015 22:35:03 GMT -5
Oh, here I didn't know you thought 1 year for 3.5 was "big" for a WR. lol They will both average less than 4. If they both average 4 mil, and you take out what they need for rookies, then those two are about one quarter of their space. And there's Redding and Freeman and a few other guys they will resign. I'm not suggesting they'll be strapped for money, just that the # is inflated right now by about $10 million. Fair enough I suppose. I just misunderstood the level of discrepancy you were implying.
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