Help Wanted: The Tennessee Titans may be looking for a WR

As a result of the departure of Albert Haynesworth, bolstering the depth at defensive tackle will undoubtedly be high on the free agency priority list of the Tennessee Titans.

However, DT isn’t the only area in need of replacements. Due to Brandon Jones’ decision to sign with the San Francisco 49ers, the Titans will also be on the lookout for another receiving weapon for Kerry Collins.

Here’s a look at a host of potential receiving options that the Titans could choose from in the rapidly shrinking free agent market.  

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The Redskins are the winners of the Albert Haynesworth sweepstakes

Albert Haynesworth has left the building.

According to John Clayton, the Washington Redskins will be Fat Albert’s new employer, thanks to a mind-boggling 7 year- $100 million deal with $41 million guaranteed.

If he meets certain contract incentives, the gargantuan new contract could reach the $115 million mark, which I’m sure is music to the ears of the Music City’s former defensive tackle.  

A free agency shopping list for the Tennessee Titans

Free agency is officially upon us.

The next several days will be hectic as the Tennessee Titans try to retain their own unrestricted free agents, who will be listening to convincing sales pitches in other NFL cities.

In addition to big names such as Albert Haynesworth and Kerry Collins, unheralded guys like Chris Carr, Brandon Jones and Vince Fuller will also get their share of attention from teams swooping in like vultures in their efforts to prey on Jeff Fisher’s roster.

While the retention of players will be high on Fisher’s/Mike Reinfeldt’s priority list, they will also be making their own pitches to other teams’ prospective free agents as they try to improve their ballclub.

Let’s take a look at several players who, for a variety of reasons, could emerge as potential free agent targets for the Tennessee Titans.

It’s the final day for some as Tennessee Titans

Today will be the last day some players will be Tennessee Titans. A guy who will probably be one of them, Reynaldo Hill, hasn’t been talked about much lately, but his contributions to the Titans shouldn’t be forgotten.

 

A seventh-round draft pick, Hill won a starting job as a rookie, beating out former first-round draft selection Andre Woolfolk. Hill was an upgrade and started 26 games for the Titans at left corner.

 

He lost his starting job when Nick Harper joined the team in 2007 and played mostly on a few special teams since then. In 2008, Hill appeared in only five of ten games before being placed on the injured reserve list.

The Tennessee Titans and the chaos before the free agency storm

Free agency is the equivalent of Christmas to many NFL franchises. Looking to improve their rosters with top-notch talent, desperate teams are more than willing to throw plenty of dollars in the direction of players that on paper, instantly make their squads better.

For instance, if recent reports are true, the Washington Redskins may be on the verge of making Albert Haynesworth a $100 million man once free agency starts on Friday. As far as I know, Kerry Collins won’t be offered a similar deal but as a result of the price-tag of Arizona’s Kurt Warner increasing, another team may feel inclined to spend a little extra to take KC away from Nashville.

Yep folks…free agency hasn’t even officially begun and already, the Tennessee Titans are faced with some important decisions to make in the immediate future.  

In Fisher and Reinfeldt we trust

I’m going to try not to be too critical of Mike Reinfeldt and Jeff Fisher about free agency, which I consider to have four categories.

 

1. Identifying which of your own players you try to keep.

2. Identifying which of your players that can be replaced by someone as good.

3. Identifying which players on the market can help you, at an affordable price.

4. Identifying the players you don’t want.

 

Since Reinfeldt joined the Titans, I give him and Fisher high marks in all four areas, which was not always the case when Floyd Reese was the GM.

Is Percy Harvin the playmaking WR the Tennessee Titans so desperately need?

Darrius Heyward-Bey and Hakeem Nicks weren’t the only wide receivers who caught the attention of the Tennessee Titans this weekend at the NFL Combine.

Also interviewed was the dynamic Percy Harvin, one of the key players on last year’s National Champion Florida Gators. Unlike other receivers, Harvin is a dual-threat, a guy who can beat you catching the football as well as wreaking havoc via his rushing abilities.

Should Percy be in the running as an option for the Titans at pick #30?

A look at more Titan free agents-to-be: the nickelbacks

As circumstances would have it, all three of the Titans who can play nickelback will become free agents if not re-signed by Thursday, the 26th.

 

Vince Fuller, Eric King and Chris Carr are all valuable players and I’d like to see all three return. The law of averages says that’s unlikely to happen, though. All three players are looking for more playing time on defense, Fuller as a safety and King and Carr as cornerbacks. Barring injury to someone else, each of them will probably continue as nickelbacks, assuming they re-sign with Tennessee.

 

Drexel took a look at the trio, among others, in his positional analysis of the cornerbacks, and I agree with him that Fuller is the most likely to leave. He played both corner and safety in college and, other than nickel, is probably best suited to play free safety. That won’t happen with the Titans, though, as long as Michael Griffin is healthy, so if more playing time is what he really wants, he’d have a better chance of getting it elsewhere.

Darrius Heyward-Bey or Hakeem Nicks: Who should the Tennessee Titans like the most?

In case you missed it, an interesting tidbit of news emerged from an otherwise typical boring offseason day. At the NFL Combine, the Tennessee Titans took a few moments to interview two potential first-round wide receivers: Maryland’s Darrius Heyward-Bey and North Carolina’s Hakeem Nicks.

Heyward-Bey and Nicks have a few things in common. Both are gifted players entering the draft after their junior seasons. Bey and Nicks also played their college ball at ACC schools. Last but not least, each talented wide out could be on the radar of a Titan team that has the #30 pick in the first round of April’s draft.

Of course, we all know that the likelihood of the Titans selecting a WR in the first round is extremely low. However, if the apocalypse occurs with a receiver being drafted at #30, Hakeem Nicks is the guy I’d like to hear being announced as the team’s choice.   

The Titans’ free agent situation is becoming clearer

We now know the situation with three of the top four Titans for whom free agency is pending. Rob Bironas has agreed to terms on signed a four-year contract, Bo Scaife has received the franchise tag and Albert Haynesworth has announced he will explore possibilities in the free agent market.

 

That leaves Kerry Collins as the top priority for the Titans before February 27 and I’d be very surprised if the Titans aren’t able to re-sign him. I doubt if it would take more than $12 to $15M over three years and the Titans can’t afford not to pay that.

 

Collins is in a great situation here in Tennessee. He said he wants to be back and Jeff Fisher said he wants Collins to be here as well. Yeah, I know that both players and teams sometimes say one thing for public consumption but actually feel otherwise. I doubt if that’s the case here, I believe both of them really mean it.