How the Titans can get under the NFL's new salary cap
The Tennessee Titans will have to make a number of moves in the coming weeks in order to get under the league's salary cap by the start of the new league year (March 15). The NFL has set the new salary cap for the 2023 season at $224.8 million, an increase in $16.6 million for […]
The Tennessee Titans will have to make a number of moves in the coming weeks in order to get under the league's salary cap by the start of the new league year (March 15).
The NFL has set the new salary cap for the 2023 season at $224.8 million, an increase in $16.6 million for every team from the previous cap in 2022. That number has the Titans around $23.5 million over the salary cap as things currently stand. The team will not only need to get under the cap by the new league year on March 15, but would be wise to clear extra space for the free agency period that begins the next day (March 16).
So which contracts should the Titans get out from this offseason? Where can the team save the most money? Here are four moves the Titans could make in the coming weeks that would give Tennessee more financial freedom when free agency arrives.
Cut LB Zach Cunningham
Cap Savings: $8.926 Million
Linebacker Zach Cunnigham has failed to replicate his 164 tackle 2020 season or live up to the hype since arriving in Tennessee.
Cunningham was late arriving for a scheduled COVID-19 test in 2021 with the Texans, ultimately resulting in him being waived for violating the team rules for a second time in the same season. Tennessee claimed Cunningham off of waivers in December of 2021, but got just six games of disappointing production from him in 2022.
With two years remaining on his contract and an $11 million base salary in 2023, the Titans would be wise to take almost nine million dollars in cap savings from cutting Cunningham prior to June 1st. He no longer feels like a crucial member of Tennessee's defensive core.
Cut WR Robert Woods
Cap Savings: $12.02 Million
While there is certainly an argument for keeping Robert Woods on the roster of a team that seriously lacked perimeter weapons in 2022, most of the guaranteed money in Woods' contract has already been paid out, and a $13.75 million base salary is steep.
Does Woods still bring value to his team? Absolutely. He is a veteran wide receiver with playoff experience, is a well-respected leader in the locker room, and can make a difference blocking down field in run-first offenses. But he is at best a number two in a competent passing offense at this stage of his career, and over $12 million of cap savings would be enough to both find his replacement and save Tennessee extra cash.
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. put up similar numbers to Woods on the 2022 season (46 catches, 529 yards, 3 touchdowns) while making far less money than Woods is due for in 2023. Cutting or restructuring Woods' contract feels necessary.
Cut OLB Bud Dupree
Cap Savings: $9.35 Million
The Titans will have an incredibly difficult decision on their hands with OLB Bud Dupree this offseason.
Dupree's health has been a question mark really from the moment he signed his five-year, $82,500,000 contract with the Titans back in the 2021 offseason. After racking up 19.5 combined sacks in his final two seasons with the Steelers, Dupree tore his ACL in December of the 2020 season. Titans' then GM Jon Robinson gave Dupree the big contract anyways, with confidence he would return to form and be impactful for the Titans' pass rush.
While Dupree has made an occasional impact on the field when he's at full strength, Dupree has missed six games in each of the last two seasons with nagging injury issues doing what he believes is compensating for his bad knee.
If on the Titans roster, Dupree is set to make $17 million in 2023 while carrying a cap hit of $20.2 million. Given his current production and health, there's no question they should get out from Dupree's contract by cutting him. The big question is when.
Should Dupree be cut prior to June 1st, Tennessee would need to eat all of the remaining dead cap space on his contract, taking it against this year's salary cap and netting a total of $9,350,000 in cap savings this season.
Should the Titans designate Dupree as a post June 1st cut, the dead money on Dupree's contract would split between this season and next season against the cap. Tennessee would then save $15,750,000 in cap space this season, but would not have access to that cap space until June 1st, after the free agency period has already largely played out.
Moving on from Dupree feels like a given, but the timing of it will be a very interesting, very difficult decision for GM Ran Carthon.
Cut or Restructure LT Taylor Lewan
Cap Savings: $14.84 Million
It should come as a surprise to nobody if LT Taylor Lewan is cut by the Titans this offseason.
Lewan is the longest tenured Tennessee Titans player, a larger-than-life locker room personality, and a difference maker on the offensive line, but the reoccurring ACL issues do not do him any favors. Lewan has played in just 20 games over the last three seasons and he is coming off his second ACL surgery in the last 30 months.
When on the field, Lewan is still a more than adequate left tackle. But with no guaranteed money left on his five-year, $80 million contract, the Titans can save all $14,840,000 of his base salary by cutting him this offseason, and it's hard to pay a LT that hasn't consistently stayed on the field.
Because Tennessee has such a need for offensive lineman, I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of restructuring Lewan's deal to save money against the cap in 2023 and keep him in Nashville for a bit longer. That is if Lewan is open to staying, taking a pay cut, and continuing to play football, of course.
Nearly $15 million in cap savings will go a long way to digging the Titans out of the current financial rut they are in. It's hard to see a scenario where they don't take that opportunity.
If all four of these players are cut prior to March 15th, the Titans would be entering the new league year with a minimum of $25 million in available cap space. That doesn't even factor in potential savings from Ryan Tannehill's contract, depending on what direction the team goes at quarterback.
Image via Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
