We drafted AJ to be our #1 WR, he was so we trade him! Absolutely agree we should have transitioned into a passing offense
How you gonna spin this if the Eagles win SB this year?
KEEP YOUR TALENT. Titans wasted the additional $4M/ SOOOOOOO BADLY. You act as if we couldn’t swing AJB AMD DH22 Pull your head out of Titans brASS and think critically. I can lay out 246 scenarios where the Titans could have managed this scenario to keep them both AND improve the OL.
I do believe AAS is trying. She saw how stupid JRob was the past 2 years and respectfully told him to move on.
If the Eagles win they win. Good for them. Then 1 guy on the current top 10 paid WRs wins an SB. Again… I didn’t say it was impossible. I stayed a fact. When you have too much money tied up in a few players you end up in cap hell. That’s a fact. The Eagles backload the crap out of his deal to fit him in. It’s going to come back and bite them. They better win it in the next 2 years. How are they gonna pay Devonta? He is going to want AJB money. Rose man is a good GM. He will figure it out.
JRob screwed up our draft and cap.
Easy my man. I’m not justifying it. I saying here is what happened. JRob got fired for it. That Titan BRASS is gone. New guys. Do you understand that ? JRob got bad. Vrabel didn’t want that trade. JRob is gone. The bad man is gone.
I don't know what "fact" you've stated. I do know you've stated lines to the effect "AJB didn't want to tbe here......had a bad attitude.....he'd have never put up numbers in our system worth what we paitd him..........etc." which was the spin the Titans put out initially on his transfer. Truth is, we COULD have found ways to pay him, much the way the Eagles did.
JRob effed up the OL line from the get go- that's why we had to lean on the run game. Have DH22 made that a possible strategy. JRob blew cap space picking up washed out or broken vets and paying them ridic money. Then he'd have to choose what producing players on the roster to let go. And he botched the draft in his latter years with his desperate attempts to correct past mistakes.
But the one thing that is glaring. AJB was a phenomenal talent- a "lucky find" in the draft at round two. And he was foolishly traded away for because we wouldn't make an extra $4m/year in cap space for and to him. INSANELY stupid. JRob fired.
Our commitment to the archaic run game mentality and Tannehill's decline
We should have kept AJ and became a passing offense or at least a more balanced one
Whether they re-sign Henry this offseason will be telling of how they want to move forward in that regard.
I mean is that really relevant? It's pretty clear they were Top Tier WRs during their championship seasons. Kupp had one the best WR seasons ever in 2021.
Sammy Watkins was the highest paid WR in 2019, FYI. Won a SB.
Henry should not cost a lot at this stage of his career. I mean even if he reaches FA with other teams bidding, does anyone really expect him to sign for more than 3 years and about 25 million max, with only the 1st year fully guaranteed? I mean Miles Sanders as a 25 year old was only able to achieve that as the top RB this past FA class. Dalvin Cook had to settle for 1 year at 7 million.
With the money available and a new stadium opening up within 2 years, I think bringing Henry back would be prudent.
I agree. I think Henry has a Titan for Life attitude and just wants to play and finish with the Titans.
It has worked, note 2019 and 2021.
The system isn’t flashy or fun but it works and has made the team competitive even among the most flashy and exciting teams.
this isn’t to say I’m against change, I’m just pointing out that even if considered outdated by the NFL, when the appropriate pieces are there (like any other team), the team is capable of winning a SB.
I want the titans to match that attitude with a Henry for life attitude.
A good running game and defense is the complete counter to what the flashy teams do. They can only throw the ball as long as there is time on the clock. Henry doing what he does and what Spears does also gives teams less opportunities to be what they are. The flashy teams HATE playing run first teams.
It matters in % of the cap used. I was speaking on the current list after WR contracts ballooned last season. Watkins $19 million wouldn’t even make the top 10 list now.
AJB HAS a bad attitude. He has it in Philly. He had it here. He pouts. You can’t deny that. He takes plays off, he takes games off if he gets butt hurt.
I did state he didn’t want to be here but he gave an interview I read and he stated that was false and wanted to play for the Titans so I’ll take him at his word. But I know pro athletes, I know sports agents and I know much to the pain of fans they don’t give a shit about winning when it comes to money. AJB wanted to get paid. Very rare is the player in any sport who thinks about winning first, particularly the NFL because of the short life.
Again, I am not a fan of the move. JRob got fired for all the mess he created. He really set this team back. No doubt about it. But to be clear the offer was $ 16 million, not $21 million. You keep saying over $4 million. It was $9 million. The deal was $16 million with incentives it could reach $20. The way NFL deals work it’s all about the guaranteed money. The other crap players don’t care about. You can pencil a $50 million per year but if the guaranteed isn’t there it’s smoke and mirrors. The bottom line regardless of the per year AJB wanted $80 million guaranteed and JRob wouldn’t give it to him. He traded him in a very bad trade and with all his other mess he got fired. Nothing can be done now. My pint was that even with AJB we aren’t winning anymore than we are now as long as Ryan Tannehill is QB. AJB doesn’t put up the numbers here because the offense runs through DH not him. No one, not one player gets more touches that AJB in Philly. The offense goes through him. When it didn’t early in the year, he pouted. He mouthed off at Hurts on the sideline.
I have less of a problem with the trade than what we got. If KC can trade Hill we can trade Brown. Problem is we gave him away. But it was a bad trade. But not because AJB would have made that bid a difference here. We aren’t a SB team with him. We can replace his stats if Levis is the guy. We won’t with Tannehill.
Watkins represented a little over 10% of the Chiefs cap. That's right in line with most of the top 10 WRs currently.
Imagine how good the Titans could be if they hadn't squandered an endless amount of first rounders. The offense has been dreadful at times even with Hopkins, remove him from the equation and the Titans would be completely at the bottom. Phillips and Burks are duds. Ran is going to have to beef up the OL and WR in 2024. NWI is an UDFA and his production has been better than the first round bust Burks.
There have been 22 Super Bowls played since the turn of the century. Only three of those winning teams had an All-Pro wide receiver on the roster that year. The 2021 Rams had Kupp. The 2006 Indianapolis Colts had Marvin Harrison. The 2011 New York Giants had Victor Cruz, who made the second team roster. That’s it.
Expanding the search to all 44 teams that played in those Super Bowls, only 13 of the 44 Super Bowl-bound teams had an All-Pro wide receiver. That includes the 2007 New England Patriots, who had Randy Moss (first) and Wes Welker (second) both make the All-Pro team.
But let’s go a step further. Of the 14 total wide receivers that were an All-Pro, only three of them accounted for more than $7 million dollars against the salary cap: Hill (2020), Julio Jones (2016) and Terrell Owens (2004). Only Jones and Owens accounted for at least 10% of their team’s total cap space.
Now, because so many receivers signed their deals this offseason, teams were able to keep their salary numbers manageable for this season. For example, Hill is only costing the Miami Dolphins $6,485,000 against the cap, which comes out to 3.1% of the cap number. In fact, only one wide receiver will be counting for more than 10% of his team’s cap –Kenny Golladay of the New York Giants.
However, for the 2023 season, 14 wide receivers are currently scheduled to account for a cap number higher than $20 million dollars. With a rapidly rising salary cap, that’ll keep most of the wide receivers below that 10% cap hit. However, here’s where things get tricky.
In 2021, the top 10 wide receivers (measured by their cap number for that specific season) combined for two playoff wins (both by Hill). The only other team that won a postseason game was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Chris Godwin missed the game due to injury. Amari Cooper (first), Adams (third), and DeAndre Hopkins (10th) were all on teams that lost their first playoff games. The other five players were on teams that didn’t make the playoffs.
In 2020, the top 10 wide receivers combined for seven playoff wins, but four of those came from Kansas City’s Hill and Sammy Watkins. Five of those wideouts played on teams that didn’t make the playoffs.
In 2019, the top 10 wide receivers combined for four playoff wins, but three of those came from Watkins during the Chiefs’ run to the Super Bowl. Hopkins accounted for the only other postseason win. The other eight played on teams that didn’t make the playoffs.
In 2018, the top 10 wide receivers combined for one playoff win – T.Y. Hilton. Three wide receivers lost in the first round and six more didn’t make the playoffs.
Finally, in 2017, the top 10 wide receivers again only accounted for one playoff win as Jones and the Atlanta Falcons were able to win a game as the No. 6 seed. Two receivers lost in the first round and seven didn’t make the playoffs.
The numbers are jarring, and they don’t get any better the further back you look. Not a single top-10 wide receiver won a postseason game in 2014. And in 2009 and 2010, not a single top-five wideout even made the playoffs.
It’s more than fair to say that historically, paying wide receivers has not led to much team success.
Which leads us to a critical caveat in this discussion. We aren’t arguing against having great players – great players help you win. Every team would have been better with Kupp last season. But the ultimate cheat code in the NFL isn’t having a Cooper Kupp, it’s having Kupp-like players on either on a rookie deal or an extremely team-friendly one.
Kupp, Chase and Samuel combined to account for just over $10.3 million against the cap during the 2021 season. That total is less than what Will Fuller IV cost the Dolphins. Those players’ manageable salaries allowed their respective teams to do things like trade for Von Miller and sign Odell Beckham Jr midseason, or sign Trey Hendrickson and four (!) secondary starters before the season began.
Credit : Trevor Goldstein, Author
First off, and i really mean this, i hope he is ok. I know im gonna take some heat for this but thats ok - Burks has to really sit down and think about if he wants to keep playing football. Physically he's a freak of nature, but he cant stay healthy, its always something. I dont want him to try and tough it out for years and then he's a vegatable for decades. Some guys man, its just not meant for them, how it is. I believe its its not meant for guys like Burks and also Farley. Seriously have to consider after this season if they both wanna keep playing ball and risking even more health scares
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