Kevin Carter was one of the biggest losses in the Titans’ salary cap purge of 2005. Two years later, the same thing may have happened to him in Miami. Carter was due a $3 million roster bonus and $2.2 million base salary from the Dolphins in 2007, although the team said his release was due to evaluation.
Now that the Titans have plenty of cap room and a need on the defensive line, Carter becomes an intriguing prospect. He’s played both defensive end and defensive tackle and the Titans need help at both positions. Travis LaBoy and Antwan Odom haven’t panned out at DE. DTs Robaire Smith and Rien Long are unrestricted free agents and may elect to go elsewhere.
Carter could beef up (in more ways than one) the RDE spot against the run and also add a push up the middle as a pass-rushing DT. His versatility on one side of the line enabled the Dolphins to use Jason Taylor on the other side the ways they did.
I’ve personally been hoping the Titans will be able to sign DE Patrick Kerney, giving them a strong pass-rushing threat opposite Kyle Vanden Bosch. And the Titans can be in the running for him. Still, I wouldn’t mind getting Carter, now that he’s officially available. If the price is right.
Although Carter never met the lofty expectations which went with giving up a first-round draft pick, he was still a good player for the Titans and then the Dolphins. Beyond that, he was a leader in the locker room. Before his stomping incident last year, Albert Haynesworth credited Carter with helping him mature.
Carter was also selected three times as the Titans Man of the Year for his work in the community.
Not that it will happen, but the pieces are in place to make this a good rumor and say this will be a good fit.
Carter loved Nashville and maintained his home here even after signing with the Dolphins and returning to his family’s Florida roots.
It’s been a long time, but looking back to the 1995 draft, Carter was the player Jeff Fisher wanted to take with the third pick. Instead, Bud Adams and Floyd Reese opted to go with a quarterback named McNair.
Here are the main problems I see. He’ll turn 34 in September and the team is in a youth movement. With the exception of Kevin Mawae, Tennessee looked at guys with four years experience in last season’s free agent period. Guys who had an upside, not ones in the twilight of their careers.
Also, Carter has played on the left side his entire career. The Titans don’t need two LDEs and I’m not sure if either Carter or KVB would be as effective on the right.
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