The nadir of the Tennessee Titans occurred following the great salary cap purge of 2005, resulting in a 4-12 record that year. It says a lot about the organization that it quickly rebuilt, improving their record for three consecutive years with 8-8, 10-6 and 13-3 seasons.
The foundation exists for another title run this year and the Titans will again be one of the favorites for postseason contention.
To make things even better, Tennessee is in good shape, salary cap-wise, being well under the cap. I used to track the Titans’ cap religiously but no longer feel the need to do so.
But just imagine what kind of shape the Titans would be in now if they once again had cap problems.
The Titans wouldn’t have been able to give Michael Roos, David Stewart and Cortland Finnegan long-term contract extensions last year. They couldn’t have signed Jevon Kearse, Jake Scott and Alge Crumpler as free agents last year.
Kerry Collins would have been too expensive for the Titans to re-sign this year. Bo Scaife would have been too expensive to franchise.
Keith Bulluck would have been too expensive for the Titans to keep, as would Kyle Vanden Bosch, Chris Hope, David Thornton and Nick Harper.
These players are the guts of the team, the core. Without them, the Titans wouldn’t have accomplished what they did in the last several years. Without them, the 2009 Titans would struggle to match the 2005 4-12 mark.
Individually, Tennessee could manage to keep a few of them around with restructured contracts, delaying the salary cap hits for a few more years, but that would create a sense of deja vu, a road we’ve been down before.
How would you envision the Titans without some of those players? I’m sure glad Tennessee has adequate cap room. At least for now.
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