Last year the Titans had plenty of cap room and we know what Mike Reinfeldt did with it. The only free agents he acquired were mid-level ones, nobody expensive, guys like Alge Crumpler, Jake Scott, Jevon Kearse and Justin McCareins.
Reinfeldt used the bulk of his salary cap room to re-sign core players. Michael Roos, David Stewart and Cortland Finnegan all got new contracts which will keep them in the fold for a while. By core players, I mean stars who are young guys, such as Roos and Finnegan, or entering their prime, like Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch. The kind of guys who you want to build your team around.
We also know that Reinfeldt attempted to re-sign Haynesworth and Kerry Collins. Big Al would definitely be considered a core player. Collins isn’t young and wouldn’t be considered a core player but he’s a quarterback, which makes him so valuable.
So Reinfeldt succeeded in re-signing three out of five. Not bad. And although he wasn’t able to re-sign Big Al to a long-term deal, he was able to get him to sign his one-year tender.
What we don’t know is if there was anyone else Reinfeldt attempted to re-sign, especially guys who are now on the verge of free agency. Did Reinfeldt attempt to re-sign Bo Scaife or Rob Bironas? Did Reinfeldt consider Scaife or Bironas to be core players? My gut feeling is that he didn’t.
I believe he considers Scaife to be a good player but a product of the system as much as anything, and as such, replaceable if necessary.
A kicker as a member of your core group? Kickers are also easily replaceable. And I don’t know if you could classify many kickers as stars. Of course, Reinfeldt considers Bironas to be a good kicker but also someone who is replaceable if necessary.
I feel pretty confident in saying Reinfeldt didn’t consider Vince Fuller or Brandon Jones to be core players.
So as we approach free agency, we can draw a few inferences as to how Reinfeldt feels about these guys.
Of the potential free agents to be, I’d like to see Big Al, Collins, Scaife, Bironas, Fuller, Jones, Chris Carr, Eric King and Daniel Loper wearing two-tone blue again this fall. How many of them can Reinfeldt re-sign?
February 26 is the deadline, rapidly approaching. And Reinfeldt will also be busy watching players at the Indy combine from February 18-24. He’ll be a busy man for the next 17 days.
What’s your opinion?
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