Titans, A.J. Brown Begin Extension Talks
The Titans made extending their 2018 second-round draftee their pre-free agency centerpiece item, coming to an agreement with Harold Landry. Their next core task will be extending their 2019 Round 2 pick.
A.J. Brown and the Titans have begun extension talks, according to GM Jon Robinson, who confirmed the team wants the standout wide receiver in Tennessee long-term. While the discussions are “very, very preliminary,” per Robinson, the recent activity on the receiver market injects additional intrigue into the situation. Brown became extension-eligible in January.
“A.J. is a Titan, and we want to keep A.J. a Titan,” Robinson said, via Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com. “And that’s part of our goal this offseason, or whenever that manifests itself, to come to an agreement to keep him around.”
Despite not using their franchise tag on Landry, the Titans extended their top edge rusher hours after the deadline passed. The team has more time with Brown, but the blossoming pass catcher is going into a contract year. And the wide receiver market has exploded over the past several days, with both Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill topping DeAndre Hopkins‘ 2020 extension.
Brown reaching the Adams or Hill tier might be unrealistic, but his age (24) and production work to his advantage. The Raiders and Dolphins’ extension decisions raised the bar for a 2019 draft class that includes Brown, Deebo Samuel, D.K. Metcalf and Terry McLaurin. Being drafted outside the first round, and thus not restricted by the fifth-year option, this promising quartet will play a key role in where the receiver market goes in the coming months. It will be interesting to see which teams move forward with big-ticket extensions on this recently adjusted market and which clubs hold off. The franchise tag may well come into play with members of this group.
A Metcalf Ole Miss teammate, Brown started his career with two 1,000-yard seasons and is one of the NFL’s top young wideouts. Brown missed four games with chest and hamstring injuries last season but remains Tennessee’s top aerial weapon. He will have a new veteran complement in 2022, with the Titans trading for Robert Woods, who is attached to a deal that runs through 2025. Woods’ Rams-constructed extension calls for a 2022 base salary of $10MM and $13.75MM salaries in 2023 and ’24. Beyond 2022, none of Woods’ money is guaranteed.
AFC Coaching Notes: Titans, Jets, Bills, Steelers, Raiders, Patriots
After parting ways with the Panthers early this year, former NFL linebacker Chase Blackburn has joined the Titans as the team’s assistant special teams coach. After playing ten years in the NFL for the Giants and Panthers, Blackburn transitioned into the coaching world working his way up to the role of the Panthers’ special teams coordinator, a position he held for four seasons.
Panthers’ head coach Matt Rhule initially retained Blackburn from former head coach Ron Rivera‘s staff, but fired him this January. He finds second life with fellow former NFL linebacker and current Titans’ head coach Mike Vrabel. Additionally, after season-long tryouts, the Titans have promoted Clint McMillan (defensive line assistant) and Kylan Butler (offensive assistant) to full time positions.
Here are a few other coaching updates from around the AFC:
- The Jets announced a series of assistant coach hirings including Ben Wilkerson and Dan Shamash. Wilkerson moves from one New York team to another, taking the same position as assistant offensive line coach on head coach Robert Saleh‘s staff. Shamash is a New York native that returns to the tri-state area after five seasons as the Chargers’ assistant tight ends coach to become the Jets’ situational football/game management coordinator. He’s worked with Saleh before in Jacksonville.
- Elsewhere in New York, the Bills announced that they’ve added Mike Shula as a senior offensive assistant. The former college head coach and NFL offensive coordinator spent the past two seasons in Denver as the Broncos’ quarterbacks coach. They also announced the promotion of Eric Washington. The Bills’ defensive line coach of the past two seasons will have the title of senior defensive assistant added to his billing.
- The Steelers announced the hiring of their new assistant line coach earlier this month. Isaac Williams joins the NFL coaching ranks after years in college football. Williams has been the offensive line coach at North Carolina Central University (2021), Morgan State (2018-20), and Northern Colorado (2016-17).
- Las Vegas has hired former college coaching assistant Frederick Walker as a new offensive assistant assigned to work with quarterbacks, according to Myles Simmons of NBC Sports. Walker most recently worked as the quarterbacks coach for the UMass Minutemen. His time in the college ranks saw him working with Giants’ quarterback Daniel Jones at Duke University as well as Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott during his time at Mississippi State. He’ll work underneath new head coach Josh McDaniels and offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi to assist Derek Carr and company on their road back to consecutive playoff seasons.
- After being passed up by Matt Groh for the director of player personnel promotion, Eliot Wolf was announced as the Patriots’ new director of scouting on Friday, a promotion from his previous title of front office consultant. According to Wilson, the team also announced that Camren Williams would be named college scouting director.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/23/22
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Detroit Lions
- Released from NFI list: TE Jordan Thomas
Houston Texans
- Waived: LB Josh Watson
New York Jets
- Re-Signed: FB Nick Bawden
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LB Olasunkanmi Adeniyi, LB Dylan Cole
Washington Commanders
- Re-signed: CB Danny Johnson
Titans S Kevin Byard Reworks Contract
Kevin Byard has helped the Titans open up a chunk of cap space. According to ESPN’s Field Yates (on Twitter), the All-Pro safety has agreed to a restructured contract.
Specifically, the Titans converted $10.96MM of Byard’s salary into a signing bonus. This move ended up opening $8.7MM in cap space.
Byard reestablished himself as one of the league’s top safeties in 2021, earning his second career All-Pro and Pro Bowl nod. In 17 games, the 28-year-old finished with 88 tackles, 13 passes defended, and five interceptions. Byard has 23 interceptions in 97 games (88 starts), all with the Titans. He was a third-round pick by the organization in 2016.
The safety inked a five-year, $70.5MM deal ($31MM guaranteed) with the Titans in 2019. He restructured his deal last offseason to save the Titans some extra money, and for the second year in a row, Byard has helped Tennessee open some space.
Contract Details: Winston, Ward, Fournette, Conklin, Jones, Jewell, Vander Esch
Here are the latest details from recently agreed-upon contracts around the NFL:
- Charvarius Ward, CB (49ers): Three years, $40.5MM. Of Ward’s $26.7MM in guarantees, $12MM comes via a signing bonus, Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus tweets. The 49ers will keep Ward’s initial cap hit low, with his 2022 figure checking in at $3.8MM. That spikes to $16.3MM in 2023. Two void years are included in Ward’s deal, giving the 49ers a cap charge of $4.81MM in 2025.
- Jameis Winston, QB (Saints): Two years, $28MM. Winston received a $14MM signing bonus and has a $1.2MM fully guaranteed 2022 base salary, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes. $5.8MM of Winston’s $12.8MM 2023 base salary is presently guaranteed for injury; it will become fully guaranteed on Day 3 of the 2023 league year. Winston can earn up to $16MM in incentives, $8MM in each year, through team accomplishments — as long as Winston is the Saints’ primary starter — and participation rate.
- Leonard Fournette, RB (Buccaneers): Three years, $21MM. Along with a $4.5MM signing bonus, the Bucs fully guaranteed Fournette’s 2022 base salary ($2MM) and $2MM of his $6.5MM 2023 base, Florio notes. Another $2MM of that amount turns from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee next year. Fournette’s $6.5MM 2024 base is nonguaranteed. Among the deal’s $1.5MM in incentives, which only cover 2023 and 2024, Fournette can collect $250K for finishing a season in the top 15 in rushing yards and $500K for a top-10 rushing finish.
- Tyler Conklin, TE (Jets): Three years, $20.25MM. The Jets are guaranteeing Conklin $10MM, including $3.9MM of his 2023 base salary. Conklin’s cap hits go $3.4MM, $8.4MM, $8.4MM from 2022-24, Spielberger tweets.
- Ben Jones, C (Titans): Two years, $14MM. Jones will see $8MM guaranteed, which comes via $6.88MM signing bonus and a guaranteed $1.12MM 2022 base salary, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets. Jones’ deal includes a $1MM roster bonus due on Day 5 of the 2023 league year. His 2023 base salary comes in at $5MM.
- Josey Jewell, LB (Broncos): Two years, $11MM. The Broncos guaranteed Jewell $6MM, which is present through a $4MM signing bonus and a $1.5MM 2022 base salary, Wilson tweets. His nonguaranteed 2023 base comes in at $4.49MM. An additional $1MM in incentives are also available for the four-year veteran.
- Leighton Vander Esch, LB (Cowboys): One year, $2MM. The Cowboys are guaranteeing $1.75MM and included an additional $1MM in playing-time incentives, Ari Meirov of PFF tweets.
Rashaan Evans Visits Jaguars
The Jaguars could soon be making another addition to their linebacking corps. Rashaan Evans has met with Jacksonville, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). 
[RELATED: Jaguars To Sign LB Oluokun]
Evans, 26, has spent all four of his NFL seasons with the Titans, becoming a starter almost immediately. His most productive campaign was in 2019, when he totalled 111 tackles and 2.5 sacks. He continued as a starter, but the door was opened to a departure when the Titans declined the former first-rounder’s fifth-year option.
That move saved the Titans cap space for future investments in the position, such as Zach Cunningham, whom the team claimed off waivers this past December. If Evans does depart in free agency, they will have a hole to fill opposite the former Texan in the middle of their defense.
Jacksonville, meanwhile, has already made a sizeable addition at the position. They signed former Falcon – and 2021 NFL tackle leader – Foye Oluokun to a deal averaging $15MM per season. Not surprisingly, that move led to the release of Myles Jack, creating some financial flexibility after the team’s free agent spending spree, but also an opening for another veteran off-ball linebacker.
If Evans does land with the Jaguars, he would of course get the opportunity to play his former team twice per season. It would also represent another move by Jacksonville to upgrade a defensive unit which ranked in the bottom third of the league in almost every major category last year. To that point, the team has also added the likes of defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi and cornerback Darious Williams.
Restructured Deals: Packers, Broncos, Bills, Patriots, Giants
As free agency continues, teams will keep finding ways to open up additional cap. We’ve had a handful of reworked contracts in recent days, which we’ve compiled below:
- The Packers opened $10.15MM in cap space by restructuring the contracts of wideout Randall Cobb (which was previously reported) and safety Adrian Amos, per ESPN’s Field Yates (on Twitter). ESPN’s Rob Demovsky tweets that Green Bay turned $5.88MM of Amos’ $7MM base salary into a signing bonus and added four void years.
- The Broncos opened up some space via a pair of restructured deals. Wideout Tim Patrick converted $6.9MM of his roster bonus into a signing bonus, creating around $4.6MM in cap space, per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver (on Twitter). The Broncos also converted receiver Courtland Sutton‘s $10.5MM roster bonus into a signing bonus, saving $7.875MM in 2022 cap space, per Klis (on Twitter).
- The Panthers converted $11.765MM of wideout Robby Anderson’s 2022 pay into a signing bonus, creating $5.88MM in cap space, per Yates (on Twitter). Staying in the NFC, Yates also tweets that the Eagles converted $14.88MM of cornerback Darius Slay’s salary into a signing bonus, creating $11.90MM in 2022 cap space.
- The Giants converted $2.63MM of kicker Graham Gano’s salary into a bonus, creating $1.753MM in cap space, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan (on Twitter). The team also added a void year to the contract, something GM Joe Schoen was trying to avoid (per Raanan).
- After getting traded to the Bills, quarterback Case Keenum agreed to rework his contract. Per Yates (on Twitter), Keenum reduced his base salary to $3.5MM. Another AFC East team, the Patriots, also got into the game, reducing defensive end Henry Anderson‘s base salary from $2.5MM to $1.25MM (per Yates).
- Yates passes along three more restructures (on Twitter): the Vikings opened $6MM in cap space by reworking safety Harrison Smith‘s contract, the Bills opened $5.172MM via linebacker Matt Milano‘s contract, and the Titans opened $6.45MM via linebacker Zach Cunningham‘s contract.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/21/22
Today’s minor NFL transactions:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: OL Greg Mancz
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed (two-year deal): WR Stanley Morgan
Denver Broncos
- Signed: S J.R. Reed
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: K Ryan Santoso
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: LB Micah Kiser
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: P JK Scott
Miami Dolphins
- Re-signed: S Sheldrick Redwine
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: S A.J. Moore
- Released: G Corey Levin
Rams To Trade WR Robert Woods To Titans
With the recent addition of Allen Robinson, the hopes of brings back Odell Beckham Jr., and the emergence of Cooper Kupp as an elite receiver in the NFL, Robert Woods became a bit superfluous in the Rams’ wide receiver room. Well, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Los Angeles will be trading the veteran receiver to the Titans in exchange for a 2023 sixth-round pick. 
Woods is a true professional who is well-rounded in his game. With decent speed, Woods can break down a defense with sharp route-running, will make defenders miss after the catch, and can catch most anything thrown in his direction. He’s an unselfish teammate and a dedicated blocker.
Woods started off in Buffalo after getting drafted in the second round out of USC. He returned to Southern California as a free agent and quickly became the Rams’ number one receiver. Woods was on a three-year stretch from 2018-2020, playing the best football of his career. In 2020, he fell 64 yards short of three-straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, totaling 3,289 yards over that span. In 2021, despite the emergence of teammates Kupp and Van Jefferson, Woods was once again on track to top 1,000 yards receiving, averaging 61.8 yards per game nine games into the season.
Unfortunately, Woods’ 2021 season was cut short when he suffered a torn ACL in a November practice. Luckily for the Rams, the day before Woods’ injury, they had signed Beckham, who was able to make up for the production lost due to Woods’ absence.
The recovery from a major injury, combined with the fact that Woods turns 30 next month, likely factors into the price the Rams were able to receive in return. Another factor is likely that Woods’ cap hit was set to balloon over the next few years of his contract, barring a restructured deal. That responsibility will now be passed on to the Titans to make Woods’ cap hit more manageable.
The Titans released receiver Julio Jones after a one-and-done season, leaving a top returning trio of A.J. Brown, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and Chester Rogers. They addressed the lackluster passing attack by signing former Falcons’ and Browns’ tight end Austin Hooper and the addition of Woods will give the Titans three strong weapons in the passing game.
Titans Re-Sign RB Dontrell Hilliard
D’Onta Foreman parlayed his stint with the Titans into a deal with the Panthers, but fellow running back Dontrell Hilliard will be sticking around Tennessee. The Titans announced that they’ve re-signed the running back.
[RELATED: Panthers To Sign RB D’Onta Foreman]
The Titans had plenty of carries to go around while Derrick Henry was out of the lineup. While Foreman ended up getting the bulk of the yards, Hilliard was the one who got the bulk of the starts. Hilliard got into eight games (five starts) for Tennessee last season, finishing with 350 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 56 carries. He also added another 19 receptions for 87 yards.
Hilliard, a 2018 undrafted free agent out of Tulane, spent the first two-plus seasons of his career with the Browns, seeing time in 30 games. He was claimed off waivers by the Texans in 2020 and got into two games with them.
Henry should be good to go for the 2022 campaign, and Hilliard is currently penciled in to be his main backup. The Titans are also rostering Trenton Cannon, and the front office will surely add more RBs before training camp.