Critical Titans free agency is about to provide a long-awaited answer to how Mike Borgonzi puts his money where his mouth is

We’re about to get the answer to a question we’ve been asking since last summer: how will Mike Borgonzi handle a nearly identical situation to the one Ran Carthon had?

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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I’ve been thinking about how the next week will unfold since last summer. Now that we’re here, I cannot wait to see what Titans GM Mike Borgonzi does with the hand he’s been dealt.

The Titans have many needs on their roster. The top three are all premium positions: receiver, edge rusher, and cornerback. Luckily, they have nearly $100 million in cap space to play with. But what is so interesting about this situation is how it’s eerily similar to the part of former GM Ran Carthon’s tenure that has aged the most poorly.

The Challenge Mike Borgonzi is about to take on in free agency

In the spring of 2024, Carthon also had a ton of money to play with. He also had a team with a lot of big needs. He also had a new head coach to provide talent to. And he also had a promising young QB entering Year 2, who many were excited and motivated to push the chips in around to set him up for success.

That player acquisition cycle went pretty poorly in hindsight.

The best acquisition in terms of output was RB Tony Pollard, who has been a very useful player for this team through two season with six combined wins. The biggest adds were WR Calvin Ridley and the trade for CB L’Jarius Sneed, both of whom were given hefty contracts. C Lloyd Cushenberry was also a big add, and he was just cut two weeks ago leaving a big new need at starting center.

So much of the Mike Borgonzi and Chad Brinker regime’s mission statement from the beginning has been that they refuse to be impatient or flashy for the sake of flashiness. They’ve been adamant that they will build a drafted and developed roster sustainably and slowly. They want to build it the right way.

History makes this clear: sustainable contenders are not built through free agency. This front office knows that. Their stated goal is to supplement through free agency, and build through the draft. Just about every front office in the league will tell you this, though. The number of them who practice what they preach is many fewer.

I keep thinking back on the 1-on-1 conversations I’ve had with these Titans decision makers over the past calendar year. I’ve asked them all explicitly about how they plan to handle the problem they face: sticking to the plan of patience and supplementation through free agency, despite having so much money and so many needs.

I’ll be pretty surprised to see them go on a sugar rush of free agent signings. “winning free agency” is something they want to avoid, and I think they will. They have to make some big signings, and I expect them to focus them on very specific players. For premium positions, large contracts will be the exception, not the rule. At non-premium positions, I think they may be more willing to shell out. And I expect them to continue prioritizing the trenches first.

This approach would be in line with the message they’ve preached so far, at least. But talk is cheap, now’s the time for them to put their money where their mouth is. I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

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