Solutions to the Tennessee Titans wide receiver problem
NASHVILLE — The 2022 Tennessee Titans had a serious problem on offense. Personnel struggled, coaches were fired and overall production took a nose dive. Plenty of room for improvement, if that's how you want to spin it. With Tennessee's new-look coaching staff in place, the focus can now shift almost entirely to the roster. Titans pass […]
NASHVILLE — The 2022 Tennessee Titans had a serious problem on offense. Personnel struggled, coaches were fired and overall production took a nose dive.
Plenty of room for improvement, if that's how you want to spin it.
With Tennessee's new-look coaching staff in place, the focus can now shift almost entirely to the roster. Titans pass catchers were not the only issue with last year's team, but there is no question the existing talent under contract is insufficient. Coach Mike Vrabel's receiving options accounted for 285 receptions (29th), 3,227 yards (29th) and 16 touchdowns (30th) by the end of the season.
Tennessee needs passing game play-makers in 2023.
Free agency wide receiver market is sub-par
The top names in wide receiver unrestricted free agency this year are JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman.
Spotrac.com's list ranges from names that used to mean something like Julio Jones and T.Y. Hilton, to functional role players such as Zach Pascal or Mack Hollins. The good news for a cap-strapped team like the Titans is that affordable options to improve the team's roster depth are plentiful. A game-changing weapon at the position, which the team does not currently have, will have to be acquired in other ways.
Financials are not in an ideal situation to do so, however.
According to Over The Cap, a $25.3 million dollar effective cap space deficit is what Tennessee general manager Ran Carthon is up against. Only the Jaguars, Vikings, Saints and Buccaneers have less to work with under the current $224.8 million base salary cap. Carthon will have until the new league year begins on March 15 to get the Titans under the cap.
Titans can immediately find savings internally
Releasing veteran wide receiver Robert Woods would save Tennessee $12 million against the cap.
Doing so, however, would put a substantial burden on first-round pick Treylon Burks heading into only his second NFL season. The Titans would be without a proven wide receiver option on the roster without Woods. The veteran did precious little to acquit himself in 2022, catching 53 passes for 527 yards and two touchdowns in his first season with the team.
It is worth noting that Woods was Tennessee's leader in both receiving yards and receptions and was second among wide receivers in scoring receptions.
It is a harsh reality for a player who was placed into a very difficult circumstance to manage. Woods was never supposed to be the primary option for the Titans passing game. When the team acquired him in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams last March, A.J. Brown was still on the roster. Brown being jettisoned to Philadelphia up-ended plenty of things that Tennessee then tried to create by drafting Burks.
Burks appeared in only 11 games in a second consecutive Titans season that saw the roster ravaged by injury, and Woods with the rest of the club's receiving corps was inadequate in his absence.
Carthon could choose to restructure Woods' deal to make the 2023 cap hit of $14.6 million more palpable as the veteran prepares to enter his eleventh NFL season. With the veteran market looking as lackluster as it is, keeping Woods may not be the worst option. Tennessee will certainly need to address the position through the draft as the primary focal point behind only its offensive line.
Change is good and the Titans roster is in desperate need of some, but doing so wholesale along with a new play-caller or, potentially, a different quarterback in the coming months is a big ask.
Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.
