One Kevin Byard trade the Tennessee Titans should consider
Losing an All-Pro safety would not make this year’s team more competitive, but it could jumpstart a Tennessee rebuild.
NASHVILLE — Trading away All-Pro safety Kevin Byard would not make the Tennessee Titans a better team in 2023. How competitive the club is in the short-term, however, is only part of the equation that general manager Ran Carthon must figure out.
Rebuilding an NFL franchise is no small feat, as it turns out.
Byard is one of several puzzle pieces Carthon has to figure out this season. Restructures to his 2019 five-year, $70 million extension have bloated the safety's 2023 cap charge to over $19 million. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Tennessee had approached Byard with a pay cut, but to no avail.
Releasing the safety without getting some kind of value for moving on from him would be untenable.
Trading Byard is the move that makes the most sense. It will sound totally unthinkable to Titans fans to do this, but declining a requested pay cut is not the final resolution to this Byard offseason saga. Until Byard, running back Derrick Henry and quarterback Ryan Tannehill are either restructured or extended, all three should be regarded as tradable assets.
That point was made recently by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler in a SportsCenter appearance.
The Arizona Cardinals make plenty of sense as a Titans-Byard trade partner, pending a resolution on stud safety Budda Baker's own trade request.
Arizona is not totally cash flush, but could accommodate Byard's salary with Baker's off of their books. The Cardinals are also in possession of the third overall pick in this year's NFL Draft. While the Titans would still need to put together an enticing package including Byard to move up from their selection at No. 11, it would give them the ability to keep more of the six 2023 picks they currently own.
Byard has remained publicly silent on all of these reports throughout the last three months. Both the safety and his representation remain very aware, however, that they are not safe from being moved by Tennessee's front office this spring.
Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.
