Titans To Sign S Johnathan Cyprien
The Titans will sign safety Johnathan Cyprien today, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It will be a four-year, $25MM deal for the defensive back, reports Tom Pelissero of USA Today (via Twitter). The reporter adds that Cyprien will make $7MM next season.
Jaguars fans are often frustrated by Cyprien’s play, but he turned one of his best seasons to date in 2016. I had him ranked as the No. 31 free agent on my Top 50 list after he finished out with 126 total tackles, one sack, and four pass deflections. Pro Football Focus gave him a 87.8 overall grade – the best of his career – and placed him No. 7 among all safeties, just ahead of Chiefs star Eric Berry.
In Tennessee, Cyprien will pair with Kevin Byard in the back end, and given that Cyprien is a defender who plays closer to the line of scrimmage, Byard will need to excel at deep safety. Cyprien is an excellent run defender, but playing against the pass has never been his strong point.
With Cyprien’s signing, Rashad Johnson is presumably not in the Titans’ plans going forward.
Titans To Re-Sign Karl Klug
The Titans have agreed to re-sign defensive lineman Karl Klug, per Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com. Details of the deal aren’t yet available.
Klug’s new accord means the soon-to-be 29-year-old will continue with his only NFL employer to date. Tennesee chose Klug in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, and he has since appeared in 94 of a possible 96 games during his six-year career. Klug has worked almost exclusively as a reserve, having picked up just seven starts, though he has managed 20 sacks and five forced fumbles. He burst on the scene with seven sacks as a rookie.
Last season was Klug’s first campaign in which he didn’t total 16 appearances. In 14 contests, he chipped in 1.5 sacks and drew praise from Pro Football Focus, which ranked his performance an outstanding 22nd among 127 qualified interior D-linemen. All told, Klug accumulated 397 snaps on defense and another 155 on special teams in 2016.
Titans Interested In Brandon Williams
The Titans are among the teams with interest in free agent defensive tackle Brandon Williams, according to Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com (Twitter link). However, the two might not be able to find common ground on a price, McCormick adds.
As of earlier Thursday, Williams’ agent was working on a contract with the Ravens, the 28-year-old’s only NFL employer to date. Williams entered the league as a third-round pick in 2013 and has since piled up 55 appearances and 46 starts in Baltimore. Last year was the third straight 16-game campaign for Williams, who also started all of the Ravens’ games for the second season in a row and ranked 39th in performance among Pro Football Focus‘ 127 qualified D-linemen.
Given his track record, the 335-pound Williams – who ranks as one of the top free agents left on the board – figures to come at a high cost. An adept run defender, Williams would further beef up a Tennessee ‘D’ that already fared well against opposing rushers last season, when it ranked second in ground yards allowed and 10th in DVOA versus the run.
Titans Agree To Deals With Three
Looking to bolster their special teams unit, the Titans have made a trio of notable moves in that phase of the game. In addition to re-signing linebacker Nate Palmer, the club has agreed to deals with safety Brynden Trawick and another LB, Daren Bates (Twitter links via Paul Kuharsky of ESPN, Adam Caplan of ESPN and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports).
Trawick is now the highest-paid special teamer in the NFL, having landed a contract worth a max of $6.85MM over two years. The Titans will be the third team for the 27-year-old Trawick, who was with the Ravens from 2013-15 and the Raiders last season. Trawick saw action in 67.7 percent of the Raiders’ special teams plays.
Bates was teammates with Trawick last year in Oakland, where the former was involved in 83.9 percent of the club’s special teams plays. Bates, who spent 2013-15 with the Rams, will make $6MM on a three-year deal.
Palmer, meanwhile, was on the field for 60 percent of the Titans’ special teams snaps a year ago and is now set to remain with the club for the next two seasons. The 27-year-old was with Green Bay in the 2013 and ’15 campaigns.
Each of these moves should aid a Titans club whose ST unit finished a below-average 19th in DVOA last season.
Titans Make Standing Offer For Brandin Cooks
The Titans have put their cards on the table. They have a standing offer out to the Saints for wide receiver Brandin Cooks, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 
Tennessee has been working to land Cooks for the past week or so. The Eagles dropped out of the Cooks chase – and we can say that with certainty now that they’ve signed Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith – but the Patriots are still very much in pursuit. It’s not yet known what the Titans have offered to the Saints, but it may involve first-round compensation. The Titans own the No. 5 overall selection as well as the No. 18 overall pick. One scenario floated recently involved the Titans swapping their No. 5 pick for the Saints’ No. 11 pick.
The Patriots, meanwhile, are reportedly considering a trade that would involve cornerback Malcolm Butler going to New Orleans in exchange for the superstar wide receiver.
Photo courtesy of PFR on Instagram.
Jaguars To Sign A.J. Bouye
The Jaguars and cornerback A.J. Bouye are have reached agreement on a contract, per Ian Rapoport and James Palmer of NFL.com (Twitter link). Prior to the deal, Bouye was still deciding between the Jaguars, Titans, and Bears, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (Twitter link). The agreement was finalized on Thursday after the official start of free agency, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Schefter tweets that the deal is for five years and $67.5MM, with $26MM guaranteed. That means the cornerback will be making around $13.5MM annually. Rapoport adds that Bouye will be receiving $44MM over the first three years of the contract.
An undrafted free agent out of Central Florida in 2013, Bouye had started only eight games during his first three years in the league, but was pressed into duty in 2016 and ended up starting 11 contests. During that time, Bouye managed one interception and 16 passes defensed, and graded as the NFL’s third-best corner behind Denver’s Chris Harris and Aqib Talib, per Pro Football Focus. In the most recent edition of PFR’s Top 50 Free Agents, Bouye ranked first overall.
One of the more intrguing free agents in recent memory thanks to his lack of experience, Bouye generated quite a market during the legal tampering period. The Colts, Titans, Bears, Buccaneers, Jets, and Eagles were all thought to be interested in the 25-year-old Bouye, who is expected to command north of $12MM annually. The Texans also wanted to retain Bouye, but Houston couldn’t keep up with the other offers flowing Bouye’s way.
The Jaguars are no strangers to defensive spending in free agency. In 2016, Jacksonville added Malik Jackson and Tashaun Gipson on top-of-the-market deals, and this offseason the club has already inked Barry Church and is in the running for Calais Campbell, though the latter is now deciding between the Jaguars and Broncos.
Jacksonville’s pass defense ranked 12th in DVOA last year, a ranking that only figures to improve following the addition of Bouye, who will team with 2016 first-round pick Jalen Ramsey to form a lethal (and youthful) cornerback duo.
Free Agency Rumors: Titans, Hightower, Rams
Let’s round up some of the latest free agency rumors:
- The talk of the Titans pursuing linebacker Dont’a Hightower might not be at the levels some have reported, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweets. Hightower stands as one of the best free agents left on the board.
- Not a huge surprise, but the Rams are not expected to bring back safety T.J. McDonald, ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes. I have McDonald ranked as the No. 40 free agent on my Top 50 list, in terms of earning power. He’s not my favorite safety in this year’s free agent crop, but he is young and his hard-hitting style should translate into dollars.
- Despite formally declining his option on Thursday, the Chiefs have expressed interest in retaining quarterback Nick Foles, Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.
- There are still plenty of teams sorting through the offensive tackle market, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets. That list includes the Chargers, Jets, Vikings, Giants, and Broncos. It should be noted that JLC’s tweet came before Denver’s acquisition of Ronald Leary. It’s not immediately clear if they’re still looking for high-end linemen.
- Russell Okung probably goofed by not having an agent last offseason, but he has one now, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter links). Cole does not identify the rap by name, but says that he has talked with teams and is not NFLPA-certified.
- Packers free agent guard T.J. Lang is likely going to have to take some trips before signing, Cole tweets. He had hip surgery in January and teams want to check that out before signing him. This jibes with earlier word that Lang will have to wait a bit before signing elsewhere.
Eagles Out On Brandin Cooks; Pats, Titans In
The Saints are expected to trade Brandin Cooks by the end of the day, and the Patriots and Titans both remain in contention for the wide receiver, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. The Eagles aren’t mentioned in Rapoport’s report, and are presumably out on Cooks after signing Torrey Smith earlier today.
The Patriots are thought to be mulling a trade of cornerback Malcolm Butler for Cooks, although the Saints may want even more. A package that includes a defensive contributor plus a draft pick is thought to be the asking price for Cooks. New England has also previously offered its first-round pick (No. 32) for Cooks, but the offer was reportedly rebuffed. At one point, the Titans were thought to be in the lead for Cooks, but it’s unclear exactly what they offered.
In 2016, Cooks caught 78 passes for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns. His yards-per-reception average of 15.0 was a career high and his 66.7% catch rate was a slight step up from his 2015 showing.
Giants, Bills Pursuing Martellus Bennett
The free agent tight end market is heating up, as the Bills and Giants are pursuing Martellus Bennett, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), who also confirmed the previously reported interest displayed by the Jaguars. The Titans and Lions are also contacting tight ends , per La Canfora, while the Packers are aiming to retain Jared Cook.
Bennett is reportedly seeking $9MM annually after a 2016 campaign which saw him 701 receiving yards and seven touchdowns for New England. Given that Jack Doyle recently re-signed with the Colts for nearly $7MM per season, Bennett seemingly has every right to ask for $9MM, but a report last month indicated a “real possibility” that Bennett won’t be returning to the Patriots in 2017. Now that New England has acquired Dwayne Allen, Bennett is almost assuredly not returning to the Patriots.
The Giants, meanwhile, are reportedly eyeing all the top tight ends on the free agent market, a list that includes Bennett, Cook, and previously Doyle, and have also expressed interest in Anthony Fasano. The Raiders, too, have been linked to Bennett, who ranks as PFR’s No. 20 overall free agent and No. 1 available tight end.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/8/17
Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:
RFAs:
Tendered:
- Chiefs — K Cairo Santos (per Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star, on Twitter)
- Raiders — DE Denico Autry (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, on Twitter)
- Ravens — G Ryan Jensen (via Jeff Zreibec of the Baltimore Sun, on Twitter)
- Redskins — LB William Compton
Non-Tendered:
- Titans — RB Antonio Andrews, LB Justin Staples, TE Phillip Supernaw (via Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com)
ERFAs:
Tendered:
- Dolphins — TE Thomas Duarte, LB Mike Hull, CB Lafayette Pitts, C/G Anthony Steen
- Falcons — CB Ricardo Allen, G/DT Ben Garland, S Akeem King (per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on Twitter)
- Lions — DE Brandon Copeland, DE Kerry Hyder, WR T.J. Jones (per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, via Twitter)