The Tennessee Titans locked down the second no-brainer, market resetting contract of their offseason on Friday afternoon, signing guard Peter Skoronski to a 4-year, $100 million extension with $88 million guaranteed.

The former No. 11 overall pick is the best homegrown offensive lineman Tennessee has had in a long time and is one of, if not the best guard playing in the league right now. The deal arrived after a flurry of interior offensive line contracts across the NFL set the stage for what his number would look like. And it’s clear to me that the Titans and Skoronski’s camp just struck a nice deal.

How Skoronski’s deal compares to the rest of the guard market

We were all wondering when this contract would get done, and a handful of interior offensive line deals rolling in over the past couple of days provided interesting context as we waited. The Atlanta Falcons gave Matthew Bergeron a 4-year, $96 million extension with $60 million guaranteed. The Buffalo Bills, earlier on Friday, gave O’Cyrus Torrence a 4-year, $78.4 million extension with $46 million guaranteed.

My initial takeaway from the Skoronski contract is that in terms of his pure average annual value sitting at $25 million, the Titans got a pretty team-friendly deal. The way the interior offensive line market has been trending in the past calendar year made it look like Skoronski would have been absolutely justified in asking for $26 million or even $27 million AAV.

Last summer, the guard market got reset by Tyler Smith in Dallas and Trey Smith in Kansas City, who reached $23.5 million AAV and $24 million AAV respectively. And with the new salary cap this season, the aforementioned deals in Atlanta and Buffalo hit this week. Earlier in the spring, the center market got its lid blown off by the Raiders, who gave former Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum $27 million AAV. The center market is a little different from the guard market, but the interior offensive line market is all tied together ultimately.

It was that Bergeron deal earlier this week that made me think Skoronski would end up in the $26 million to $27 million range. So the Titans and GM Mike Borgonzi did well to get it to $25 million. But Skoronski’s camp didn’t come down to $25M for nothing.

The compromise that made the deal work

The pretty obvious compromise, and why the Skoronski camp was happy to accept that team-friendly looking AAV number, is that his guaranteed money is extraordinary. To have a $100 million contract and get $88 million of it fully guaranteed is tremendous in comparison to the other recently signed guards. Torrance got $46 million guaranteed and Bergeron got $60 million, which was briefly a high-water mark at the position. Getting $28 million more in guarantees than the next closest player is fantastic.

Looking at the other top guards around the league, Tyler Smith in Dallas got $41.2 million guaranteed and Trey Smith in Kansas City got $46.7 million guaranteed. Below them, Chris Lindstrom in Atlanta got $48 million guaranteed. Skoronski’s $88 million guaranteed blows the rest of the market out of the water, and that is what I’m sure his camp is ecstatic about.

Good for the Titans to find that compromise to keep the total number down a bit while giving Skoronski more guaranteed cash. He’s a guy it totally makes sense to do so with.

Borgonzi, Skoronski react to the deal

Titans GM Mike Borgonzi released a statement on Friday:

“We couldn’t be happier to keep Peter in Nashville. The goal will always be to retain people and players who are cornerstones of our organization. And Peter is certainly that for us. He has the work ethic to match his talent and a perpetual desire to win that we want permeating throughout our building. We’re excited to enter the season knowing he and his family will remain Titans for years to come.”

Skoronski put out a statement as well:

“This is a tremendous blessing. It’s a reflection of the work, sacrifice, and support that has helped me get to this point, and I don’t take any of it for granted. Thank you to Miss Amy, Mike Borgonzi, and Coach Sala for believing in me. From the moment I got here, this is where I wanted to be. I love this organization, I love this city, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue representing this franchise. I appreciate the faith they’ve shown in me, and now it’s my job to earn it every day. I’m excited for what’s ahead, but more than anything, I’m ready to get back to work.”

Both sides found a structure they could feel great about. Tennessee keeps its best offensive lineman at a palatable AAV number, and Skoronski walks away with guaranteed money that no other guard in the NFL can match right now — a reward for earning it while keeping the Titans in a strong financial position to continue building around Cam Ward.