Kevin Byard does the Titans a solid but a key question remains
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Tennessee Titans All-Pro safety Kevin Byard has restructured his 2023 contract in order to give the team some salary cap flexibility. The Titans needed to make a corresponding move for the DeAndre Hopkins signing. Prior to agreeing with Hopkins, Tennessee had just over $8 million in salary cap […]
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Tennessee Titans All-Pro safety Kevin Byard has restructured his 2023 contract in order to give the team some salary cap flexibility.
The Titans needed to make a corresponding move for the DeAndre Hopkins signing. Prior to agreeing with Hopkins, Tennessee had just over $8 million in salary cap space. With Hopkins receiving a base salary of $12 million in 2022, the Titans had to get creative and find some money elsewhere.
Once again, it appears Byard is coming through for Tennessee. Rapoport reported that Byard's original $14 million base salary will now be $11 million in 2023 with an additional $3 million of incentives available to him.
This would mark the third time in his Titans career that Kevin Byard has restructured his deal. But one big question still remains. Is this an actual restructure where Byard turns his base salary into signing bonus to lower his 2023 cap hit? Or is this just a straight pay cut?
The Titans asked Byard to take a pay cut earlier in the offseason, which he firmly declined. It made KB one of the most heavily discussed offseason topics for the Titans, but it never really made sense for a player who is still one of the best at his position in the NFL to take a pay cut.
But if Byard is just decreasing his $14 million base salary in 2023 to an $11 million base salary with incentives, that’s exactly what he is doing. Perhaps there is more to the story that will detail exactly what Byard is getting out of all of this, but then again, maybe he's just doing it for the sake of the organization. More information on Byard’s contract should become available throughout the day.
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