[FREE] Five Questions the Titans have Left to Answer

Tre has 5 Questions Surrounding the Titans After the First Free Agency Wave

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Well, we’ve now hit the second wave of free agency.

Most of the big names have signed, while some notable ones are still on the market, looking for their next best opportunities.

So, with most of the big time action now in the past, I thought it’d be a good time to walk and talk about the Titans. Their current situation, maybe some concerns about a few positions, and discussing some popular talking points surrounding the organization right now.

With that in mind, let’s take a seat and talk some Titans, shall we?

What’s the plan at corner?

Does anyone else have an answer? Because I sure don’t.

We expected the Titans to go into free agency and find two starting caliber boundary corners.

Why?

So that they could replace the outgoing Sean Murphy-Bunting and Kristian Fulton, also due to the fact that the Titans weren’t in a position to use one of their top 100 picks on a corner because of the massive holes on the roster.

Like left tackle and receiver.

But here we are, into the second wave of free agency and multiple starting caliber corners off the market — with not many, if any left — and the Titans have only acquired one starting caliber corner through free agency.

With that lone addition being Chidobe Awuzie.

They’ve been heavily rumored to be a team in the running for L’Jarius Sneed, the All Pro who is still being dangled by the Chiefs in trade discussions. But as of now, those rumors have cooled and it remains to be seen if the Chiefs even get a deal done soon.

Things can always get more hectic closer to the draft, but right now the Sneed trade train just isn’t moving.

Normally this wouldn’t be a huge topic of discussion. But with how unique the Titans’ roster situation is, it kinda is one now. Because now, they’re in a position where they’re either going to have to do one of the following:

1. Sign one of the remaining free agent corners and pray you receive some temporary stability there.

2. Draft a corner

OR

3. Give L’Jarius Sneed what he wants and finalize a trade with the Chiefs

The first two options aren’t ideal, considering the Titans only have two top 100 picks and would need to trade down from either #7 overall or #38 overall to acquire more. Both of those are still options — more on that later — but the consensus is that the Titans need to hold onto #7 overall, leaving #38 overall as the little guinea pig.

The second option is a little depressing, as most of the remaining options in free agency just don’t give much optimism. There are still the likes of Steven Nelson and Tre’Davious White on the market, but Nelson is 31 and White has suffered two major leg injuries over the last 3 seasons.

However, Nelson still showed he can play last season, hauling in four interceptions and finishing with a respectable 73.1 coverage grade from PFF. Plus he was a veteran presence on a Texans defense that came into its own.

Bringing Sneed in is still the top choice, as he’d instantly give the Titans a long term solution at corner, wiping out another one of their needs on the roster. But will the Titans budge and give Sneed the money he wants, knowing that’s likely the factor that has prevented any trade from materializing so far?

I honestly don’t know.

My personal opinion would be to give Sneed the money, but I truly do understand holding out for every last possible discount, especially for long term deals with loads of money likely to be involved.

That’s the point of negotiating.

Either way, until either decision is made, the Titans will remain in a tough spot at boundary corner.

Who slots in at safety now?

Another secondary spot that needs some attention is safety.

At this current moment, the team is going through a bit of a renaissance at the position. Kevin Byard has been gone for a couple months now, leaving Amani Hooker and Elijah Molden — plus a few others — to hold down the two starting spots.

However, we all know that can’t be the Titan’ long term plan at the position.

Amani Hooker is fine, but Molden simply can’t be counted on as one of your starting safeties. And the Titans realize that as well, as they’ve been connected to a few safety options since free agency opened its doors last week.

Justin Simmons has been connected to the team, but that option has cooled in recent days. Marcus Maye is another name that’s been connected to the team and this one has a bit more steam, as he visited the Titans this past Monday.

(Please God, if he’s gonna sign with the team, please make it after this article drops, I’m begging).

This is positive, but until the team fills the hole, questions will remain.

This feels like a spot the Titans will find a way to fill before the draft, since options remain and the financial market for the position appears to be on the cheaper side. So for now, it isn’t a concern.

But we’ll see how it goes over the next few days and weeks.

Are the Titans balking at inside linebacker?

Inside linebacker has been a position the Titans have been able to find quality starting play at in recent years. David Long Jr. and Azeez Al-Shaair are just two of the more recent names.

But the tide might be changing here, as the team still hasn’t been able to find another inside linebacker to pair with new signing Kenneth Murray.

That’s a bit concerning in its own right, because Murray isn’t a player you can comfortably give the green dot to. He’d be a fine off ball linebacker that doesn’t have to patrol the middle of the field like a sheriff, since that’s where his athleticism shines best.

But there can’t be any circumstances where he’s expected to be alpha at inside linebacker, he just hasn’t proven he’s ready for that kind of responsibility.

That leaves the market, where the Titans haven’t been active enough to address that concern.

They were connected to Jerome Baker, but he signed a new one year deal with the Seahawks. Patrick Queen felt like more of an option, especially with Dennard Wilson being the new defensive coordinator here.

But he instead signed a deal below his projected market value, to go to Pittsburgh.

Obviously you can’t expect the Titans to spend money like crazy at every position of need. But this felt like a surefire option, considering the lack of options other than Queen and the lack of draft capital to truly address the spot.

Now, because of the team not bringing in at least two new starters, the outlook at the position looks a little grim. Well, maybe not grim, but unappealing.

Yeah, that’s the word.

Because the current market options are Isaiah Simmons — who isn’t really the on ball linebacker the Titans need — the corpse of Shaquille Leonard, a very often injured Kwon Alexander, and a bunch of names that don’t need to be near any starting spots.

Starting to see the picture?

Who bets against the Titans taking a tackle at #7 overall?

Moving into some draft talk, it feels like the most logical route the Titans can take at #7 overall right now, is taking one of the uber talented tackle prospects the draft has to offer.

They don’t really need to draft a receiver with the addition of Calvin Ridley and any other position just isn’t more important than tackle right now.

Joe Alt is the darling here, as he’s been mocked to the Titans plenty of times since the draft order was finalized. Between Alt, Olu Fashanu, and J.C. Latham, Alt is the one that appears more pro ready.

Of course he has his flaws, but throwing an elite tackle prospect into the ring with Bill Callahan, is like leaving your car at a world famous repair shop.

You’re only guaranteed exceptional results.

Some have recently tried to throw some Nabers>MHJ talk out there, which has led to some Titans fans dreaming of the prized Ohio State product to drop to 7, potentially leaving the Titans with an option between Alt and MHJ.

(MHJ would be the correct choice btw).

Now that isn’t going to happen, mostly because a lot of this talk is just normal pre draft sh*t throwing that flies around during this time. Some teams would have Nabers over MHJ, but logically MHJ isn’t dropping past the Arizona Cardinals at 4, maybe even at 3 where the Patriots are set to pick.

But they look to be in the market for a quarterback, so I doubt that.

Either way, I’d bet on the Titans taking a tackle at 7.

Is the trade down “discussion” dead?

However, there is one more option at #7 overall if the Titans choose to go down this route.

With only two top 100 picks in the draft, and some more roster holes to fill, the Titans might be interested in trading down to collect more picks, and filling out their roster with more depth.

Now doing this means you’ll likely sacrifice selecting a blue chip prospect, one that could give you a long term option for the next decade and then some. And in return, you get a chance to accelerate your rebuild and rise to the competitive level needed to contend in a loaded AFC.

But there’s been some pushback, more so recently in the midst of Calvin Ridley signing a long term deal with the team. Because..well, there’s only one major roster hole that needs filling and #7 overall is the perfect spot to fill it.

It kind of begs the question, is the trade down talk dead? I feel like it’s growing more towards a resounding yes, since Titans fans were forced to watch a second straight season of piss poor offensive line play.

You can’t really blame them for having those feelings either, since Will Levis himself got hurt multiple times as a result of the poor play.

What about you though? What are your thoughts on a potential trade down?

Is it still in the cards for you? Or have you discarded the idea immediately?

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