The NFL offseason has hit its annual dead period ahead of Fourth of July weekend. All 32 teams have wrapped OTAs and minicamp, evaluated their young players, watched veterans return from offseason surgeries, and identified which positions still need reinforcement before training camp. 

Some front offices, including Tennessee Titans GM Mike Borgonzi, are building call lists for break-glass-in-case-of-emergency scenarios during the first week of camp. 

CBS Sports’ Brian DeArdo decided to play matchmaker for the remaining key NFL free agents, and he landed on a Titans fit that deserves some pushback.

DeArdo matched former Detroit Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker with the Titans.

“The 32-year-old Decker is looking for a new team after spending his first 10 NFL seasons with the Detroit Lions,” DeArdo wrote. “The Titans would make sense for Decker, who would be an obvious upgrade over Dan Moore Jr., the Titans’ current starting left tackle.”

“It’s fair to wonder, though, if Decker would want to play for a rebuilding team. But if he is open to going to Nashville, Decker — as he did in Detroit — could be part of another successful reclamation project.”

Maybe. But calling Decker an “obvious upgrade” over Moore oversimplifies the Titans’ actual situation.

Dan Moore Jr. gets a bad rap

Moore signed a 4-year deal worth $82 million last offseason, and the reaction from plenty of fans across the league was predictable. The left tackle had allowed 12 sacks with the Pittsburgh Steelers two seasons prior, and now he was getting paid like a premier free agent. But that’s the market rate for a 26-year-old free agent tackle. It was the cost of doing business.

Moore, now entering Year 2 of that contract, has the biggest cap hit ($26.3 million) on the Titans’ roster. He turns 28 years old in September. Why would Nashville bring in a 32-year-old to play over him? 

Toward the back half of last season, when the entire Titans offense started clicking, Moore played noticeably better. The improvement wasn’t isolated to him, either. Right tackle JC Latham also settled in down the stretch.

Latham dealt with a hip injury that sent him to injured reserve for a month early in the 2025 season, and it lingered longer than anyone hoped. He had a well-documented false start problem, including three false start penalties against the Houston Texans in Nashville. But here’s the thing people don’t talk about: Texans edge rusher Will Anderson, Latham’s former Alabama teammate, recorded zero pressures on quarterback Cam Ward in that game. Once the ball was snapped, Latham held up.

In my opinion, those false starts had more to do with Latham overcompensating out of his stance because of the hip situation than a fundamental technique issue. JC was also dealing with some type of minor injury during OTAs and minicamp that caused him to miss a few days.

Where Decker actually makes sense

The case for Decker isn’t as a starter over Moore. It’s insurance. 

The Titans’ tackle depth behind Moore and Latham is thin. Austin Deculys is the current third tackle, and behind him sit undrafted rookies Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, Rasheed Miller, and Aamil Wagner. 

Decker is better than all of them.

But a “better than the backups” argument doesn’t justify the signing when you factor in cost and roster construction. 

Decker is a 32-year-old who isn’t back in Detroit for a reason. The Lions are moving Penei Sewell from right tackle to left tackle because Decker departed. 

He’s a floor-raiser and a starting-caliber tackle, but the Titans are already paying Moore starter money. Borgonzi isn’t going to feel the need to sign Decker over a mid-20s left tackle who played better as last season progressed.

Zeitler to San Francisco makes more sense

DeArdo’s other notable Titans connection went the opposite direction. He matched former Titans starting right guard Kevin Zeitler with the San Francisco 49ers rather than a return to Nashville. 

“While a reunion with the Browns also makes sense, the 36-year-old Zeitler would likely prefer to play on a team that has legitimate Super Bowl aspirations,” wrote DeArdo. “In San Francisco, Zeitler would likely be a better option at starting left guard than Connor Colby, a 2025 seventh-round pick. Zeitler, who has blocked for five 1,000-yard rushers over the course of his career, would fit right in inside Kyle Shanahan’s run-heavy offensive scheme.”

That ship appears to have sailed for a Zeitler reunion in Tennessee. From talking with Zeitler last August at the Titans captains’ dinner, he and his family loved the Nashville area. But the Titans are rolling with the right guard competition between veteran free agent addition Cordell Volson, second-year lineman Jackson Slater, and rookie Fernando Carmona from Arkansas.

The Zeitler-to-San Francisco fit makes football sense. The Decker-to-Tennessee pitch doesn’t hold up once you factor in what the Titans actually need from their left tackle spot heading into training camp.