Coaching Jerry Gray has probably saved Munchak his job. The Defense continues to improve and I think we would be crazy to disrupt that progress. I see Munchak being retained and Gray being retained. Loggains hasn’t shown enough yet and I think the Titans target another OC in the off-season. I think the whole coaching staff in Detroit will be sent packing and see the Titans signing Scott Linehan as their OC for next season. Our Notable Free Agents Offense: TE Jared Cook – Franchise him if necessary, but I think he signs a long-term deal G Leroy Harris – Not re-signed. FB Quinn Johnson – I think they re-sign him to a modest package, but he also has to compete for his roster spot. Non-guaranteed contract. C/G Kevin Matthews – Hasn’t done enough to warrant being retained. Could sign him to a vet minimum contract and keep him around for camp, but not a priority at all. RB Javon Ringer – He’s done with the Titans (and probably in the NFL). C Fernando Velasco – Has done well enough to keep on. He’s a RFA, so we can keep him relatively easily. G Deuce Lutui – Serviceable, but not much more. Retain him for a vet min contract for 1-2 years. Defense: DT Sen'Derrick Marks – Has played like a true starter this season, but someone is likely to offer him more money than us, and is likely to be a free agency casualty. LB Gerald McRath – Likely to sign with the Rams. CB Ryan Mouton – Has to be gone. Sensabaugh and Campbell are both ahead of him in the long-term pecking order. LB Will Witherspoon – Decent depth, but not a priority re-signing. LB Zac Diles – Coaching staff were pretty high on him before he got injured and he was clearly ahead of Witherspoon and Shaw in the pecking order. Offers good versatility and veteran presence. I think he’ll be re-signed. Special teams: K Rob Bironas – Will be signed to a long-term deal. Releases: QB Matt Hasslebeck RB Jamie Harper WR Lavelle Hawkins Position by position look – free agency: Quarterback Locker starts and Rusty moves up to #2 as his primary back-up. Given Jake’s injury history, signing a vet to be a legitimate #3 is imperative. Drew Stanton, Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn are the 3 most logical targets in my view. I think the Titans sign Derek Anderson as #3 QB for veteran minimum. Running Back CJ will be retained. They will not cut him, although I could see a discussion about reducing his salary and maybe adding a year to his deal. That said, he badly needs a back-up. There are a plethora of Free Agent RBs available. The #1 target in my mind would be Chris Ivory, but he is a RFA and likely to garner a high tender from the Saints. If he could be traded away from the Saints for a 4th or 5th round pick, I would pull the trigger. I’ll presume that won’t happen, however. I think the Titans sign Rashad Jennings from the Jaguars to be CJ’s primary backup and use a draft pick on a RB that can compete with Reynaud and Mariani for kick return duties. Fullback Quinn Johnson has been totally underwhelming and should at least face competition for his job. Jerome Felton is the best free agent available, but I expect he’ll re-sign with the Vikings. Lex Hilliard from the Jets would be a Free Agent I’d target to replace Johnson, and if you can’t secure him than have Mooney and Johnson compete for the spot at training camp. Part of this depends on the role Loggains sees for a FB in his offense. From what I’ve seen the last few weeks, I don’t think he views it as a priority. Wide Receiver I would extend Britt this off-season. He is the closest thing to a franchise receiver we have had for a number of years and if he breaks out next year, we are little chance of retaining him as a free agent. His play over the last couple of weeks (except for last night) has shown me enough that he can get back to being a dominant receiver. Wright and Williams are locks. Washington has a big cap number, but he at least survives until training camp. The group could use another veteran to replace Hawkins and potentially Mariani. I don’t see us getting in the Mike Wallace or Greg Jennings chase, but guys like Julian Edelman or Devery Henderson are realistic targets. I think we sign Edelman and bring Mariani and Preston back. Tight End A team strength and I wouldn’t mess with it. Stevens, Cook and Thompson all retained. Offensive Line I think we are set with our depth at tackle in Stingily and Otto backing up our two starters. Hutchinson has one season left at the most, so getting a replacement LG is a huge priority. Velasco and Lutui are serviceable starters and nothing more. I think we add a free agent and a draft pick to the interior. Andy Levitre from Buffalo is the prized free agent here and I think the Titans make him a high priority. Sign him as a starter and let the other 3 guys (Hutch, Velasco, Lutui) battle for 2 spots. Defensive Line As mentioned above I think it is likely we lose Marks to Free Agency. The biggest issue is adding real depth to our Defensive end position and allowing our DEs to have a meaningful rotation. My number one target would be Osi Umenyiora. He is no longer an every down DE, but he still offers a lot as a situational player and could at least hold up against the run when he is spelling our starters. At DT, Sedrick Ellis would be a huge difference maker for us, but he will be commanding a huge contract as well. I think we address DT through the draft. Linebacker Our starters are set and, although McCarthy’s injury history is cause for mild concern, I don’t see them investing a lot in this position. Getting Diles back is huge, but we do need more depth. I’d target Akeem Jordan from Philly to give us quality depth at either outside spot and also draft a LB in the mid-late rounds. I’d definitely retain Tim Shaw as well. Secondary Griffin, McCourty, Verner and Sensabaugh are the only locks here. Sensabaugh looks promising, but is probably better suited for the dime at this point. Getting a starting calibre CB is a very high priority for the draft. We are one injury away from disaster at CB. Strong Safety is likely to be addressed through Free Agency. Personally, I think we go all out for Louis Delmas from the Lions. I know he has had a multitude of injuries, but when fit he is a top-tier safety in the league. He can play either FS or SS and I think Jerry Gray would make full use of his talents on our defense. Kerry Rhodes would be my back-up plan. Draft (presuming we pick in the 8-12 range and get a 3 and 6 comp picks) 1st Round – DT Sheldon Richardson, Mizzou 2nd Round – CB Xavier Rhodes, FSU 3rd Round – DE Morgan Breslin, USC 3rd Round (comp selection) – Gabe Jackson, OG, Mississippi State 4th Round – Rex Burkhead, RB, Nebraska 5th Round – Lerentee McCray, OLB, Florida 6th Round – Marcus Davis, WR, Virgina Tech 6th Round (comp selection) – Shamarko Thomas, S, Syracuse 7th Round – John White, RB, Utah
Lineup: QB: Locker/Smith/Anderson RB: Johnson/Jennings/Burkhead/White FB: Mooney WR: Britt/Wright/Washington/Williams/Preston/Edelman/Davis TE: Cook/Stevens/Thompson LT: Roos/Stingily LG: Hutchinson/Jackson C: Velasco RG: LeVitre/Lutui RT: Stewart/Otto RE: Umenyiora/Wimbley LE: Morgan/Breslin/Solomon DT: Casey/Richardson/Martin/Klug SLB: Ayers/Jordan MLB: McCarthy/ Shaw/Bailey WLB: Brown/McCray CB: McCourty/Rhodes/Verner(NB)/Sensabaugh(DB)/Campbell FS: Griffin/Martin SS: Delmas/Thomas/RoJo K: Bironas P: Kern LS: Brinkley KR/PR: Mariani/Edelman
Who would be get the 3rd comp pick for? Finnegan? I don't think we cut Hass. We're not in dire need to free up money at this stage and Locker will need his experience.
Agreed. Also, it's unlikely we'll get a 3rd for Finnegan - due to Griffin and Wimbleys big deals. Comp picks are determined by "salary, playing time, and postseason honors with his new team, with salary being the primary factor." Griffin & Wimbleys deal trumps Finnys, we may not get an early comp for it. We better hope Finnegan makes the pro-bowl, thaty'll help.
This may be wrong, or may have changed with the CBA but I thought you get comp picks if you lose more players than you gain?
Love the pickup of Andy Levitre, i've been saying that he needs to be our #1 FA target this year. He's playing at a pro-bowl level right now. Bills just signed Ubrik (their other guard) to an extension today (4y-15M). They also have to keep Jairus Byrd (a Top-5 safety). Not sure if they can afford to keep Levitre... we need to snatch him up. Pair him up with a 2nd-3rd round starting center. ProFootballFocus ranks LeVitre as the 9th best OG, in the NFL.
Here's my off-season plan: Trade back in the draft. Pickup a late 1st and a 2nd. QB: Locker, Hass, Rusty RB: CJ, Ivory (FA), Harper WR: Britt, Washington, Wright, Preston, Mariani TE: Cook, Stevens, Thompson OT: Roos & Stewart - Otto - Stingley OG: Hutcinson & LeVitre (FA) - Velasco C: Barrett Jones (1st rd) - Velasco DE: Kam Wimbley, D Morg, Datone Jones (3nd Rd), Cheap FA DT: Jurrell Casey, Mike Martin, Sylvester Williams (2nd Rd), Karl Klug OLB: Zach Brown - 4th Rd - Cheap FA ILB: McCarthy - Diles - Shaw OLB: Akeem Ayers - 4th Rd CB: Jason McCourty CB: Quentin Jammer (FA) NB: Alterraun Verner FS: Michael Griffin - Martin SS: Matt Elam (2nd Rd) - Afalava FAs: LeVitre, Quentin Jammer, Chris Ivory, 4th String DE/OLB Resign: Cook, Velasco, Diles, Shaw (not sure if FA), Afalava Draft: *TRADE BACK* -- Barett Jones (1st), Matt Elasm (2nd), Syl Williams (2nd), Datone Jones (3rd), LB (4th) Revamps the D. Improves the seconday. Adds another another two young guys on the DL. OL improves by 100000000000x.
