The Tennessee Titans went 0 for 5 in their latest round of free agent acquisition attempts. All five of the free agents who visited the Titans last week agreed to terms with other teams, bringing the Titans’ record this offseason to 2 for 13.
It’s not a horrible success rate (15%) for the pursuit of the top free agents, but it’s less than mediocre. I’d think that getting one of every three (33%) or every four (25%) free agents would be an average rate for players of that caliber.
The 13 players that we know the Titans were interested in were QB Peyton Manning, DEs Mario Williams, John Abraham, Kamerion Wimbley, Jamaal Anderson and Mark Anderson, guard Steve Hutchinson, centers Scott Wells, Chris Myers and Jeff Saturday, TE Joel Dreessen and CBs William Gay and Tracy Porter. Hutchinson and Wimbley agreed to terms with the Titans.
There are two reasons why I’m disappointed the Titans didn’t fare better than they did in free agency.
First, this may have been the best free agent class we’ll see for a long time.
Second, I disagree with the premise that the quality of the two players who did sign with the Titans makes up for the lack of quantity.
The Titans addressed the left guard position with Hutchinson, but left guard was not a position of significant weakness or need. Right guard and center have been the problems with the interior line and those weaknesses remain.
I’m not optimistic about either Eugene Amano or Leroy Harris as a center. I’m not excited about switching either of them to right guard either, so it appears the Titans will either have to go in another direction or suffer through another season of subpar interior line play. At this point, the latter seems more likely.
There’s no question that Wimbley could provide a much needed pass rush, but he doesn’t fit Jerry Gray’s profile of a big defensive end. Could he end up being no more than another situational role player? Even if Wimbley shows he can become an every down player for the Titans, they are still short of DEs to fill out the roster.
Last week, Mike Munchak said, in this article by Jim Wyatt, “We’ve already gotten two very good football players that we are excited about and I know we’re not done yet.”
If there are any free agents the Titans are interested in, they’re flying under the radar. The only player the Titans have been linked to recently is former Eagles center Jamaal Jackson. Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweeted that Jackson’s agent claimed the Titans were interested in him. That was six days ago and there has been no news on Jackson since then, so it’s fair to presume that was just agentspeak.
Other than the reports of free agents who visited Tennessee and then opted to go elsewhere, there’s been no news at all of Titans’ activity in free agency.
If the Titans do sign any more free agents, as Munchak claimed they will, I wonder who they might be. There’s not a lot of quality left out there. Dan Koppen and Todd McClure are the best centers who are still available. It’s not a good year at all for right guards, as Tom wrote here and I wrote here.
Dwight Freeney remains on the Colts’ roster. He’s one guy I would excited about, if the Colts release him. Andre Carter is still limping and not ready to work out for anybody yet.
All remains quiet on the Titans front but we do have the draft to look forward to.
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