Tennessee Titans: 2 Questions With the Titans Trading for WR Robert Woods
The Tennessee Titans bolstered their receiving corps on Saturday evening by striking a deal with the L.A. Rams to trade for WR Robert Woods. Tennessee will send a 2023 sixth-round pick to the Rams for Woods. Ian Rapoport had the news first. On the surface, this appears to be a great move by the Titans. […]
The Tennessee Titans bolstered their receiving corps on Saturday evening by striking a deal with the L.A. Rams to trade for WR Robert Woods.
Tennessee will send a 2023 sixth-round pick to the Rams for Woods. Ian Rapoport had the news first.
On the surface, this appears to be a great move by the Titans.
They gave up very little to get a reliable veteran receiver, something Tennessee desperately needed following the release of Julio Jones.
Woods will join A.J. Brown and, likely, an early draft pick to form an improved group of wide receivers for the Titans in 2022.
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel spoke quite highly of Woods ahead of his team's Sunday Night Football matchup with the Rams.
"I would say that [Cooper Kupp] and Woods are two of the best blocking wide receivers in the league," Vrabel said. "It has been impressive just to watch them not only with their route craft and what they do, but the commitment they make to blocking players.
"I am not talking just DBs, they are trying to block outside linebacker, cut them off or do whatever they need to do in their offense."
Moving forward, two important questions will need to be answered about Woods.
First, what will his cap hit be?
Woods' contract currently has him slated for a $13.5 million hit against the cap, but that could easily change if the Titans decide to convert some of his base salary into a bonus.
Second, when will Woods be healthy and ready to play?
Woods tore his ACL during a practice on Nov. 12 and missed the remainder of the 2021 season.
The start of the 2022 season will come roughly 43 weeks after Woods' injury.
There's every reason to believe he'll be able to play, but how effective he proves to be early in the season could prove another matter entirely, something the Titans know all too well after enduring Bud Dupree's and Taylor Lewan's slow starts to the 2021 season on the heels of their ACL injuries.
We won't have answers to both of those questions for a while. What we do know right now is that the Titans' group of pass catchers is a lot better now than it was at the end of the day on Thursday.
Cover image: Robert Hanashiro
