For a team that usually does a very good job of planning ahead, the Titans sure have a lot of different fires to put out as free agency nears.There's the matter of re-signing game changing defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, tight end Bo Scaife--the team's leading receiver--is also heading to free agency as is quarterback Kerry Collins, who mentioned at the Pro Bowl that he's willing to turn the screws on the Titans to get a better deal.
Collins has made it clear several times that he wants to be back in Nashville next year, but he's also saying agent-approved things that send signals that the Titans are going to have to pay a market rate.
"I hope it's with Tennessee,'' he says. "If it's not, I'll go somewhere else. I definitely want to be back there,'' he says. "I love playing with Jeff. I love the town. We're comfortable there," Collins said. "Hopefully in the next couple of weeks they'll start getting a little more serious and throw some real numbers around.''
Real numbers will probably include $7 million or more per year on a multi-year deal, which would go on top of the six-year, $58 million deal that Vince Young has (although that's the full value of Young's deal, and he's not going to reach all of those incentives).
We're 18 days from the start of free agency and it's nearly impossible to believe that the Titans are going to get all three re-upped before free agency starts.
If you're prioritizing, Haynesworth has to be priority No. 1, but Collins isn't that far behind. It's not that Collins is an exceptional quarterback, but there really aren't any logical replacements who can be counted on to step in and fill his shoes. Titans owner Bud Adams may think that Young is still the team's quarterback of the future, but who wants to have him back under center full-time in 2009?
Even Scaife is pretty valuable. The Titans don't have a whole lot of reliable pass catchers, and Scaife is the most reliable. For a team that already needs to add a wide receiver in free agency, losing Scaife would add another gaping hole.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-09-2009 @ 11:27AM
tevetorbes said...
WTF. The titans have a QB already, and I hear he's pretty good. Of the 07/08 and 08/09 seasons, with 2 different starting QBs, who do you think had the higher QB rating? Hint: it wasn't Collins.
Let that dimwit go- if he thinks he can start somewhere else, more power to him. But if he thinks for one SECOND that the Titans face-smashing rushing attack and brutal defense that oftentimes gave him great field position had nothing to do with his mediocrity, Kerry Collins is the asshat that I always knew he was. Oh, and anybody who thinks VY doesn't fit into the Titans offensive scheme (read: short outs to the TE's and run run run), you are not paying attention. The Titans will NEVER have a vertical passing attack, and to hold VY to some standard that includes that is ludicrous. Don't tell me that VY could not have deftly handed the ball off to CJ & LenWhale 451 times like Collins did.
Give VY the damn ball and let that old bag of bones Collins retire. Priorities: Haynesworth, Scaife, and Collins is somewhere well down the line behind our 3rd and 4th string corners. Cya old man!
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2-10-2009 @ 1:09AM
Bob said...
You apparently missed the memo on "VY". His production figures from when he was on top of his game are nearly irrelevant, because he's not the same guy anymore. More often than not, Mr. Young is a basket-case, a man who doesn't handle the stresses of big-time football very well. Maybe he can rise above it, but that's a huge risk for a ballclub to take--the mental side of the game can sink a player long before the physical tools go bad.
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