Latest On Titans’ Vic Beasley
In March, the Titans signed Vic Beasley to fortify their edge rush. In August, they’re just hoping to see him sometime soon. Beasley has yet to report, and the team hasn’t had “a lot of conversation with him,” head coach Mike Vrabel says (Twitter link via Jim Wyatt of the team website). 
Beasley has been MIA throughout the offseason and he didn’t speak with anyone from the team until late last month. His absence, GM Jon Robinson says, is unexcused. The team hasn’t offered much clarity on Beasley’s situation and neither has his camp.
A former first-round pick of the Falcons, Beasley broke out in 2016, his second NFL season. He managed 15.5 sacks that year, but things cooled off after that – he notched five sacks in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, Beasley finished out with eight sacks, though that number was bolstered by a disproportionately strong home stretch.
Beasley is under contract for this year only. His one-year, $9.5MM deal is fully guaranteed, however. The Titans signed the former top-10 pick to fill a need opposite Harold Landry, who largely represented their only strong edge presence last season. If Beasley ends up a no-show, that would be quite the development. It would also seemingly strengthen Tennessee’s motivation to chase Jadeveon Clowney. The Titans have been on the fringe of that situation for months.
Titans Sign First-Round OL Isaiah Wilson
The final unsigned first-rounder has officially inked his deal. The Titans have signed Isaiah Wilson to his rookie contract, according to Jim Wyatt of the team website.
NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the rookie offensive tackle received a four-year, $11.57MM contract with a $5.974MM signing bonus. As Rapoport observes, picks No. 25-32 all ended up getting paid more guaranteed money than previous rookies drafted in that range, with each of those 2020 rooks earning at least 90% fully guaranteed deals.
Before he was selected with the 29th overall pick in this past year’s draft, Wilson was a standout at Georgia. The 6-foot-6, 350-pound lineman earned All-SEC second team honors in 2019 after starting 10 of his 11 games. He was previously named to the Football Writers Association of America freshman All-America Team.
In Tennessee, Wilson is expected to fill the hole left by Jack Conklin, who left for the Browns in free agency. The rookie will likely compete with Dennis Kelly for the starting right tackle spot, and he’s already looking forward to blocking for the likes of Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry.
“I am sure I am going to learn a lot of great things from Derrick Henry about run blocking, about where he expects his holes to be as a back who has been in the league for years,” Wilson told Wyatt. “Ryan Tannehill can definitely teach me certain things about protection and things of that nature. I definitely plan on learning from those guys and bettering my game off of those guys and polishing up what I do and try and be the best player for the team.”
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/3/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here. For the running list of opt out decisions, check out PFR’s 2020 Opt Out Tracker.
Arizona Cardinals
- Released: OL Jake Benzinger, S Reggie Floyd, WR Rashad Medaris
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: TE Jerell Adams
Cincinnati Bengals
- Released: WR Moritz Bohringer, RB Devwah Whaley
Cleveland Browns
- Released: RB Brian Herrien
Detroit Lions
- Claimed: DT Daylon Mack (from Ravens)
- Signed: DT Jashon Cornell
Green Bay Packers
- Released: QB Jalen Morton, FB Elijah Wellman
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: DB Jordan Brown, TE Paul Butler, K Dominik Eberle, LB Marquel Lee, C Erik Magnuson, LB Liam McCullough, WR Anthony Ratliff-Williams
Miami Dolphins
- Claimed off waivers (from Colts): CB Picasso Nelson
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: WR Davion Davis, DB Kemon Hall
New Orleans Saints
- Released: WR Tommylee Lewis, DE Gus Cumberlander, S Chris Johnson, OG Adrian Magee, RB Taquan Mizzell, WR Maurice Harris, DT Taylor Stallworth
New York Jets
- Waived: OL Ben Braden, RB Trenton Cannon, OLB Wyatt Ray
San Francisco 49ers
- Re-Signed: DE Alex Barrett
Seattle Seahawks
- Re-Signed: DE Branden Jackson
- Waived: DL Josh Avery
Tennessee Titans
- Re-signed: G Zac Kerin
Washington Football Team
- Released: DE Cameron Malveaux, DB Maurice Smith, TE Caleb Wilson, RB Josh Ferguson
Vic Beasley Says He’ll Report To Titans
A Thursday statement from Jon Robinson brought good news and bad news. The good: The Titans have made contact with outside linebacker Vic Beasley. The bad news: He has yet to report to the team, and his absence is unexcused. 
“On Tuesday July 28th, we placed Vic Beasley on the Reserve Did Not Report list. I have been in contact with Vic, he is not here, he understands his absence is unexcused, and he told me he will be reporting to camp in the near future,” Robinson said. “Our current focus is on the players that are here now, getting everyone acclimated to the protocols, our building, and our football program. We will have the same acclimation process with Vic when he reports.”
The Titans inked Beasley to a fully guaranteed $9.5MM deal earlier this year, with the expectation that he would bolster their DE group. Instead, he’s been MIA. No one’s sure why Beasley hasn’t shown up in Tennessee, but it sounds like he will report sometime soon.
A former first-round pick of the Falcons, Beasley broke out in 2016, his sophomore NFL season. He managed 15.5 sacks that year, but things cooled off after that – he notched five sacks in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, Beasley finished out with eight sacks, though that number was bolstered by a disproportionally strong home stretch.
When/if Beasley shows up for work, he’ll join Harold Landry in the Titans’ front seven.
Latest On Titans, Vic Beasley
The Titans placed 2020 free agent acquisition Vic Beasley on their reserve/did not report list Tuesday. A day later, the veteran defensive end remains away from the team’s training camp.
Beasley has not announced an opt-out decision, and no communication explaining his absence has taken place, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Titans began COVID-19 testing Tuesday.
Tennessee gave the former top-10 pick a fully guaranteed $9.5MM on a one-year deal to play opposite Harold Landry this season. While the team has been in the Jadeveon Clowney market for months, to some degree, Beasley is expected to play a key role for his new team.
With Clowney still a free agent, Beasley’s situation could represent a key domino in that months-long saga. The 2016 All-Pro experienced inconsistency with the Falcons, but he played well down the stretch last season — after the Falcons could not find a trade partner — and finished with eight sacks.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/27/20
Teams are trimming players earlier than usual this year, thanks to the NFL’s recommendation for an 80-man roster max. We’ll keep track of the latest minor moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Released: LB Vontarrious Dora, QB Drew Anderson, DE T.J. Carter, OL Jackson Dennis, OL Drew Dickinson, TE Parker Houston, WR Shane Leatherbury, WR Devin Phelps, CB Jarren Williams, CB Bejour Wilson
Baltimore Ravens
- Waived: G Evan Adams, G Daishawn Dixon, T R.J. Prince, K Nick Vogel
Buffalo Bills
- Waived: WR Ray-Ray McCloud, OL Garrett McGhin
Cincinnati Bengals
- Waived: CB Isiah Swann
Denver Broncos
- Released: DT Joel Heath
- Waived: LB Tre’ Crawford, QB Riley Neal, WR Kelvin McKnight, RB Khalfani Muhammad, S Kahani Smith, CB Shakial Taylor, C Nico Falah
Houston Texans
- Claimed off waivers (from Eagles) DT Albert Huggins
Kansas City Chiefs
- Waived/Injured: DB Javaris Davis, WR Cody White
Miami Dolphins
- Claimed off waivers (from Chiefs): CB Javaris Davis
- Waived: DE Avery Moss, LB Trent Harris
- Waived/NFI: TE Michael Roberts
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: WR Shelton Gibson, WR Marcus Green, DE Daeshon Hall, DT Albert Huggins, and CB Tremon Smith
Tennessee Titans
- Waived: DL Amani Bledsoe, LB Nigel Harris, TE Cole Herdman, WR Trevion Thompson, G Zac Kerin
- Waived/Injured: RB Shaun Wilson
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 7/22/20
Here are the latest draft pick signings. With rookies set to report to teams’ training camps this week, teams are busy on this front.
- The Vikings were the busiest team in the draft, making 15 picks this year. They have been active signing them Wednesday. Beyond first-rounder Justin Jefferson, Minnesota has agreed to terms with second-round tackle Ezra Cleveland, fourth-round linebacker Troy Dye, fourth-round defensive tackle James Lynch and seventh-round offensive lineman Kyle Hinton. Cleveland, rumored as a possible late-first-round selection, will be groomed to become a near-future starter for the Vikings.
- The Broncos began signing some of their picks, most notably getting third-rounders Michael Ojemudia and McTelvin Agim under contract. A cornerback, Ojemudia is set to compete for a starting job opposite A.J. Bouye; Agim profiles as D-line depth behind established starters this season. Denver also signed fourth-round tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, a Mizzou alum set to rejoin his former quarterback (Drew Lock) in the Mile High City. The Broncos also reached an agreement with seventh-round outside linebacker Derrek Tuszka.
- Despite having T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree under contract, the Steelers used a third-round pick on outside linebacker Alex Highsmith. The Charlotte alum agreed to terms on his four-year rookie deal. Highsmith recorded 15 sacks at the mid-major program last season.
- Packers third-round pick Josiah Deguara also agreed on his four-year rookie contract. Green Bay eschewed its wide receiver need throughout the draft, using Day 2 to add a running back (A.J. Dillon) and Deguara, who profiles as a tight end/fullback. The Cincinnati product surpassed 900 yards between his final two college seasons, totaling 12 touchdown grabs in that span.
- Tennessee third-round running back Darrynton Evans signed his rookie deal as well. Evans looks set to replace Dion Lewis as the Titans‘ Derrick Henry change-of-pace back. The Appalachian State alum rushed for 1,480 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. He added five receiving TDs.
- The Giants used first- and third-round picks on tackles. The latter selection, UConn’s Matt Peart, agreed to the terms of his rookie deal Wednesday. Peart profiles as a developmental lineman, working behind expected starters Nate Solder and Andrew Thomas. He stands to join Cameron Fleming as depth for Big Blue.
- Washington has agreed to terms with third-round running back/wideout Antonio Gibson, fourth-round receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden and fifth-round center Keith Ismael. Gibson and Gandy-Golden figure to be key parts of a Washington offense that is limited, beyond Terry McLaurin, in the passing game. Gibson totaled 1,104 yards from scrimmage at Memphis last season, while Gandy-Golden caught 20 touchdown passes in two years at Liberty.
- Fourth-round Cowboys pick Reggie Robinson agreed to terms as well. The Tulsa cornerback joins a Cowboys team that lost Byron Jones in free agency. Dallas was active in an effort to replace the Pro Bowler, drafting Trevon Diggs in Round 2 and signing Daryl Worley.
- Sixth-round Chargers safety Alohi Gilman, a Notre Dame alum, signed his Chargers contract Wednesday. Gillman joins a deep Bolts safety corps.
- The Buccaneers drafted two running backs this year. On Wednesday, they agreed to terms with the second of those picks — seventh-rounder Raymond Calais. In addition to his work as a running back at Louisiana, Calais was a four-year kick returner for the Rajin’ Cajuns.
Titans Still “Monitoring” Jadeveon Clowney
Will Jadeveon Clowney find a new home in Nashville? Titans GM Jon Robinson continues to play coy on the situation, though he did tell ESPN’s Dianna Russini (Twitter link) that the team is still “monitoring the situation.” 
Robinson added that he “may or may not” have had contact with Clowney’s camp in the last week – a not-so-subtle hint that the two sides have had recent talks. In the past, Robinson has indicated that he wants a thorough and in-person physical performed on Clowney before potentially signing him.
“Anytime you are dealing with whatever the contract is going to command, you want to make sure that the player is healthy, that you are able to allow your doctors to see him, to look at it, to make sure everything is going to be good,” Robinson said.
The Titans put at least one offer on the table for Clowney earlier this year, but the former No. 1 overall pick rejected it. The Seahawks, Raiders, and Browns also saw their offers declined. The Browns reportedly offered Clowney the best multi-year deal of any club this year, but that opportunity has gone out the window. Earlier this month, the Browns reworked Olivier Vernon‘s deal to give him $11MM in guaranteed cash, solidifying his spot as the bookend opposite of star Myles Garrett.
Titans Sign Derrick Henry To Extension
With less than an hour remaining until this year’s deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign extensions, the Titans appear to have a deal done. They have agreed to terms with Derrick Henry on a long-term contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Titans announced the extension.
This has been a historically quiet tag deadline, due largely to the financial uncertainty the pandemic has caused. And as recently as Tuesday, the Titans and Henry were believed to be too far apart. But they stayed in contact and have finalized an agreement. It’s a four-year pact, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter).
The Titans and Henry worked on a deal for months. The final result: a four-year, $50MM agreement, with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeting $25.5MM will be guaranteed. This $12.5MM-per-year pact comes in fifth among active backs, but with two years being essentially guaranteed, it will give the reigning rushing champion security at a position that largely lacks it.
Per Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the deal includes a $12MM signing bonus and a first-year cash flow of $15MM, a nice increase from the $10.278MM Henry was due to earn on the franchise tender. It also creates over $4MM of cap space this year for the Titans, giving them more than $24MM to spend. Tennessee could opt to roll most of that money over into 2021 to guard against a salary cap drop, but the club clearly has the ability to add more talent (see: Jadeveon Clowney).
The running back market spike from 2018-19, for the most part, did not reward teams who authorized the big-money deals. And the loaded 2017 running back draft class may be set to make the 2021 free agency class a buyer’s market, especially considering the cap implications COVID-19 could cause. But the Titans moved forward anyway and will now have Henry and Ryan Tannehill signed to long-term deals, rewarding the duo most responsible for the team’s first AFC championship game berth in 17 years.
Henry is coming off one of the better contract years in recent memory, following up his rushing title with dominant performances in Titans upset wins over the Patriots and Ravens in the playoffs. The former Heisman winner and second-round pick has been one of the league’s best backs over the past season and change, beginning his breakout late in the 2018 campaign.
Adding to the intrigue behind this deal: Henry’s throwback skill set offers little in the passing game, separating him from the recent group of backs — Todd Gurley, David Johnson, Le’Veon Bell and Ezekiel Elliott — to sign market-reshaping contracts. The most recent recipient of a monster running back extension — Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey — is perhaps the game’s premier dual-threat option. Tennessee, however, has built a run-oriented offense around its top back. And Henry, despite his bulldozing style, has only totaled 804 carries. That ranks eighth among backs since 2016.
Despite 15 players being tagged this offseason, Henry is only the second to sign an extension. He follows the Chiefs’ Chris Jones. The other teams who have used the tag are a half-hour away from carrying the tag salaries on their respective payrolls this season. The NFL moved the start of the league year back multiple times because of the CBA ratification process, but the league keeping the tag deadline in place has likely caused most teams to stand down amid the uncertainty the coronavirus has injected into the NFL’s future.
Poll: How Many Tagged Players Will Land Extensions?
A day away from the deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign extensions, the NFL finally saw a player from this year’s group do so. The Chiefs’ Chris Jones extension represents the outlier move thus far. Discounting Jones’ deal, how many more tagged players will sign by the 3pm CT deadline Wednesday?
The 14 remaining tagged players reside in limbo for various reasons — from uncertainties about their career trajectories to the pandemic clouding the NFL’s financial future. There could be plenty of players going through the 2020 season on guaranteed one-year deals, which would both table key negotiations for several months and add to the 2021 free agent market.
Here is how everything looks with the tagged group as of Tuesday afternoon:
Already Signed Tag
- LB Shaquil Barrett, Buccaneers: Sides are not believed to be close on terms (7/10)
- RB Kenyan Drake*, Cardinals: Engaged in talks with organization (4/15)
- LB Bud Dupree, Steelers: Sides are not close on terms; Dupree filed grievance (7/10)
- S Anthony Harris, Vikings: No reports, will let agent and Vikings do the work (5/17)
- RB Derrick Henry, Titans: Expected to play season on tag (7/14)
- TE Hunter Henry, Chargers: Sides “were close” to extension (4/29); now not so much (7/11)
- LB Matt Judon, Ravens: Content playing on franchise tag (6/16)
- QB Dak Prescott, Cowboys: After disagreement on deal length, no talks scheduled (7/13)
- OG Brandon Scherff, Washington: No longer expected to sign extension (7/14)
- S Justin Simmons, Broncos: Talks unlikely to produce extension (7/14)
- OG Joe Thuney, Patriots: Engaged in talks with organization (3/17)
- DT Leonard Williams, Giants: Will play 2020 season on franchise tag (7/13)
*Received transition tag (vs. franchise tag)
Hasn’t Signed Tag, Won’t Hold Out
- WR A.J. Green, Bengals: Not much optimism exists for extension (7/12)
Hasn’t Signed Tag, Threatening Holdout
More players were tagged this year than in 2018 and ’19 combined. This represents the largest contingent of tagged performers since 2012, when 19 were tagged. That also came in an era when of salary cap stagnancy. After steady cap growth since 2014, the league’s best hope may be for the 2021 cap to plateau. The coronavirus has threatened to keep fans out of stadiums, with limited capacity being the likely best-case scenario. That will cost the league upwards of $3 billion, and the NFL-NFLPA talks about how to manage this have transpired for several weeks without a resolution.
But deadlines, per the cliche, incite action. Will this year be the exception? Are teams willing to carry big tag salaries on their books? Or will they prefer that to signing off on long-term extensions before the cap reality clears up? Vote in PFR’s latest poll (link for app users) and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section.