The Tennessee Titans have been active in free agency, locking in Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, and Dennis Kelly for the foreseeable future. They also signed Vic Beasley. None of that is all that surprising. But, things took a turn earlier today when news broke that they had traded their stud defensive lineman, Jurrell Casey, to the Denver Broncos in exchange for a 7th round draft pick.
The #Broncos have acquired Jurrell Casey for just a 7th round pick from the #Titans, source said. He carried a big salary.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 18, 2020
Wild.
On the surface, it seems like the Titans gave up one of their best players for breadcrumbs. But, the guy was going to be making $10.2M in 2020, and a lot more than that in the following seasons ($12.2M in 2021, $13.8M in 2022). The Broncos agreed to take on all of the cost, meaning the Titans won’t have to pay Casey a thing. This has all the makings of a pure salary dump to free up some cap space.
I don’t personally think that Casey’s play declined so much in 2019 to make this about his performance. I just think it was simply about the money. Joe Rexrode called this a very “Patriot-like move” on Twitter. I’d have to agree. Jon Robinson got out of a big contract before Casey’s play actually declined. That’s what you want to do….you’d rather dump guys a year early than a year late.
Nonetheless, this is a shocking move that a large section of the Titans fan base isn’t too happy about. Casey was beloved by Nashville. He deserves a lot of credit for remaining loyal to this franchise and turning this franchise into a contender. He saw this Titans team through some of its worst years and was there to see it reach the AFC Championship. But, look people…it ain’t like the Titans never took care of this guy. They paid this man $63.5M over nine seasons. They took care of him when it was time for him to get his big pay day. This is just the reality of the NFL sometimes….business people are going to make business decisions. JRob chose to free up some money, and get a little younger on defense. It’s Big Jeff’s time to shine.
Now, the question is what do the Titans do with that money? One would logically assume that they dumped that $10.2M for a reason. Are they going to ramp up efforts to go after Jadeveon Clowney? Are they going to use it to bring back Logan Ryan and get to work on Henry’s long term deal? Is there some blockbuster trade lurking in the shadows that we’ve yet to see?!?! A lot of speculation out there right now. The Titans are doing their part to make this an exciting free agency period. That’s for sure.
I wrote this piece a couple of months ago. I truly believe that Jurrell Casey has been one of the most underrated defensive linemen in the NFL throughout his entire career. I believe he’ll go down as one of the greatest Titans to ever don the two tone blue. We’re going to think of him the same way we think of a Jevon Kearse or Keith Bulluck type in time. That class of elite Titans defenders. He’s done a lot of good for Nashville, and deserves every bit of love he gets from the Music City.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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