Tennessee Titans GM denies Kevin Byard rumor
Tennessee Titans have been trying to delicately balance how they move forward with All-Pro safety Kevin Byard.
NASHVILLE — Tennessee Titans fans have been wringing their hands over the lack of pass-catching help the team has added in free agency thus far. With so many issues surrounding the roster, reports of the team asking All-Pro safety Kevin Byard to take a pay cut ahead of 2023 have only added fuel to the fervor.
Offseason drama galore.
Times like these coupled with a convoluted social media landscape can often further catalyze the NFL rumor mill. Byard has been at the center of one such situation, when it was incorrectly reported earlier this month that the safety had requested his release in Tennessee. Byard did reportedly decline the Titans request for a pay cut, but trying to force his way out of the franchise that drafted him has not been brought to the table at this time.
New general manager Ran Carthon very much wanted to emphasize the facts in Byard's case.
"I will say this – K.B., nor his representatives, ever asked us for a release," Carthon told Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com at this week's NFL Owners Meetings in Phoenix. "So, that was blatantly false. That's what I'll say about that."
Carthon added that the team has a "ton of respect for K.B. and we'd love for him to continue his career as a Titan," according to Wyatt.
Teams do not approach players about pay cuts without being prepared to take some kind of action. Tennessee's salary cap situation requires them to do just that, with limited options at their disposal. Byard signed a five-year extension worth $70.5 million in 2019. He also sports a $19.6 million cap hit this year after the club restructured the initial Byard deal twice to create more cap room at the time.
If the Titans were to release him, they would save around $6 million in cap space but retain $13.6 million in dead cap space. Those savings would balloon up to $14.1 million if the team was to cut Byard after June 1.
Tennessee and Byard are most certainly at a pivotal point in their time together. Where the two sides go from here remains to be seen.
Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.
