Wan’Dale Robinson To Titans Gains Momentum: Pros and cons of free agent WR joining Brian Daboll, Cam Ward

It sure seems like the Titans are the leaders in the clubhouse to land Wan’Dale Robinson in free agency. But is it a good idea in the first place?

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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NFL Free Agency hits the ground running at the beginning of next week, and the rumors and anticipatory moves are already flying hot and heavy. The Titans seem to have one free agent all but locked down already on the defensive side of the ball, and now an offensive target appears to be emerging: Giants WR Wan’Dale Robinson.

Robinson was an easy dot-connecting name from the beginning thanks to former Giants head coach Brian Daboll taking the Titans’ OC job. And as we get closer and closer to free agency, it’s seeming increasingly likely that he will be a Titan next week. The latest comes from “The People’s Insider” Rickey the dog. Yes, a dog:

https://twitter.com/RickeyScoops/status/2029976872507801729?s=20

If you aren’t familiar with Rickey’s game, just know that he is a burner account for somebody very clearly in the know around the NFL. Whatever his actual job is, it allows him to know a lot of these big national moves ahead of time, and he playfully puts them on Twitter. He’s no formal insider, but I can count on one hand the number of times he has been wrong. He has been right about big stories well before the regular insider crowd catches wind of them more times than I can count.

So while you shouldn’t take this meme as gospel, when considered in the totality of the way this seems to have shifted all week, it’s a pretty safe bet at this point that the Titans will go hard in the paint after Robinson and probably land him.

But what will it mean for this roster-building expedition if/when it happens? here are the pros and cons to landing Wan’Dale Robinson in free agency:

Why Wan’Dale Robinson to the Titans makes sense

It sure seems like the Titans are going to get their guy next week, and it makes sense because…

  • Robinson is young! He is a rare example of a bona fide starting WR hitting the open market at a freshly-minted 25 years old. This will be his first big payday after his four year rookie contract, and at the very least you don’t have to worry about father time catching up with him anytime soon. If he sticks and becomes an integral part of your offense, he could be around for a long time.
  • A lot of the typical concern when it comes to spending big on free agents is the unknown. How will they fit in a new scheme, on a new team, with new teammates around them? Some players are pretty universal fits. Others find great success thanks to a specific set of circumstances. With Robinson, you can feel safer about sending him a huge wad of cash because you saw him work in OC Brian Daboll’s offense for years. Not only that, but we know that Daboll spent a big chunk of last year’s pre-draft process thinking, and planning, and scheming for a world in which he could pair Robinson and QB Cam Ward together. His public desire to have Ward in New York makes this clear. So a vision for these two together has existed for some time.
  • In case you haven’t noticed: the Titans have a huge need at WR! The room isn’t barren, but there are a ton of question marks. 2025 Day 3 rookies Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor did enough to be excited about the floor they can bring to the room in Year 2. Calvin Ridley remains under contract, but his price tag is high, his availability is in question, and father time is looming. So a signing like Robinson would be a welcome infusion of reliability.
  • On the topic of reliability, that’s the most attractive thing Robinson brings to the table as a player. In the past three years, he’s been available for all but three games. And when he’s on the field, he’s proven he can handle volume. He’s fielded an eye-watering 280 targets the past two season. Last year was his career-best, clearing the 1000 yard mark for the first time.

Why Wan’Dale Robinson to the Titans is a bad idea

Even if this is a foregone conclusion at this point, here’s why the Titans really should stop and think twice:

  • This man is not going to be cheap. I’m relatively confident Robinson’s contract is about to cause some double-takes, because I don’t think people’s expectations are properly set. I’m seeing a lot of folks on social media throw out numbers in the neighborhood of $15 million AAV, even some saying he will cost close to half of what Alec Pierce does. I see fifteen as an absolute floor, and half of Pierce’s AAV would shock me. Spotrac has him at $17.6 million. Over The Cap has him at $19.3 million. I won’t blink if he comes in at north of $20 million. Supply and demand, plus the Titans having to pay the “Suck Tax”, is going to drive this contract up. And I fundamentally disapprove of paying anything close to WR1 money to a player who isn’t going to offer you that kind of impact.
  • Robinson isn’t a slot-only guy. But his size (5’8″, 185lbs) dictates he play primarily from the slot. 1678/2471 snaps the past three seasons have been from an inside alignment, though his closest year to a 50/50 inside/outside split was 2025. That was largely due to necessity when Malik Nabers went down, but he proved he could hang outside some nonetheless. His size and playstyle mean he isn’t going to be a contested catch ball winner at all three levels of the field, though. This isn’t a do-it-all player. And the rest of the Titans’ WR room will have to be deployed accordingly.
  • History is not exactly kind to expensive wide receiver contracts handed out in free agency. Recent examples include Calvin Ridley here in Tennessee ($23M AAV), Christian Kirk in Jacksonville ($21M AAV), and Kenny Golladay in New York ($18M AAV). It’s not that every receiver in free agency is doomed to fail, but the guys at the top of the market are universally overpaid. And many of them fizzle out with their new team quickly. Teams just don’t usually let good receivers hit the open market; they’re extended or traded.
  • Spending big on WR or just about any premium position in free agency is questionable process. You get away with it sometimes, and there are exceptions. But history contains a vast graveyard of overpaid swings at premium positions who don’t pan out, hanging like an albatross around the neck of your cap sheet. Ask any executive in this league what free agency is best used for, and their answer is likely to be along the lines of “supplementing your roster and investing in non-premium players”. The draft is where the best franchises find premium tentpole players, develop them in-house, and then keep them around to build a program. Champions just aren’t built by giant contracts handed out to receivers in free agency.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that I do not approve of this contract, pending Robinson actually landing in Tennessee and it not being a shocking bargain. From a process standpoint, this is typically a bad idea. I’m able to reach a level of indifference in this particular case thanks to a few factors: he’s at least young, he’s a proven fit in this exact coach’s scheme, his coach has a thought-out plan for him with Cam Ward, and he’s not going to be a market-setting contract. I’m confident he will be a useful player who is very nice to have around and can have an important impact on this offense. But it will likely be an overpay, his physical limitations may become a point of frustration, and we may very well look back at his contract within a year or two and kind of regret it.

It’s far from the end of the world. The Titans have to spend money somewhere, and they have to get reliable WR bodies somewhere. I’d personally just rather they come from the draft. And there’s no reason they can’t still!

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