Savings Plan: Players Who Could be Cut to Create Cap Space
NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans will head into the 2023 offseason in the red.
They’re currently $24 million over the projected NFL salary for the coming season, the third-highest figure in the league, per Over The Cap trailing only the New Orleans Saints ($50 million over) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($43 million).
That kind of budget imbalance is a concern for any team, but especially one that needs to make significant changes on at least one side of the ball – the offense. In addition, the Titans will likely be looking to extend the contract of defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, as well as potentially re-sign players like inside linebacker David Long, right guard Nate Davis and nose tackle Teair Tart among others.
What’s it all mean? Simple: A number of veteran Titans could be on the chopping block in the coming months as the team looks to carve out more salary-cap space.
Here’s a look at some of those who may be released in the quest for cap room, with financial figures coming from overthecap.com and spotrac.com.
TAYLOR LEWAN, Tackle
• Cap savings if released: $14.8 million
• Dead money: Zero
• Analysis: Lewan has been saying for weeks that he’s likely to be released by the Titans, and he is exactly right. This one is a no-brainer from a financial standpoint. The Titans suffer no penalty (dead money) by releasing Lewan, a three-time Pro Bowler who has torn ACLs in two of the past three seasons. Theoretically, the Titans could always re-sign Lewan if he’d be willing to play at a greatly reduced salary. But his medical history would seem to make that scenario an unlikely one.
ROBERT WOODS, Wide Receiver
• Cap savings if released: $12 million
• Dead money: $2.6 million
• Analysis: A year after undergoing ACL surgery, Woods came to Nashville and led the Titans in receptions (53) and yards (527) last season, though averaging a modest 9.9 yards per reception. His leadership, smarts and reliability would make Woods great to have back with a crop of young receivers, but certainly not at a cap hit of $14.6 million. It would seem that unless Woods’ contract was significantly reworked, the Titans could find better use for that kind of money.
RANDY BULLOCK, Kicker
• Cap savings if released: $2.1 million
• Dead money: $600,000
• Analysis: It’s not as if Bullock had a poor year. He connected on 17 of 20 field-goal attempts (including seven of 10 from 40-plus yards) and all 28 of his extra-point attempts. But the Titans will be looking at every avenue to save money. They liked what they saw from Caleb Shudak during the 2022 offseason, and the fact Shudak was signed a futures contract earlier this week means he’ll get another chance to make a good impression.
ZACH CUNNINGHAM, Inside Linebacker
• Cap savings if released: $8.8 million
• Dead money: $4.5 million
• Post June-1 designation cap savings if released: $11.1 million
• Post June-1 designation dead money: $2.3 million
• Analysis: Around two stints on injured reserve this season (both due to an elbow injury), Cunningham played just six games this season and made 24 tackles. If the Titans re-sign Long, and if players like Monty Rice and potentially Jack Gibbens continue to progress, it should give the team alternatives to Cunningham. He has plenty of talent, but the level of play has been inconsistent since the Titans claimed him off waivers last season.
BUD DUPREE, Outside Linebacker
• Cap savings if released: $9.4 million
• Dead money: $10.9 million
• Post June-1 designation cap savings if released: $15.8 million
• Post June-1 designation dead money: $4.5 million
• Analysis: The five-year, $82.5-million deal the Titans gave Dupree during the 2021 offseason has not paid the expected dividends to date. He’s missed six games in each of his two seasons while dealing with a variety of injuries (knee, abdomen, hip, pectoral) that landed him on IR in both 2021 and 2022. A better option would be to find an adequate replacement at lesser cost.
RYAN TANNEHILL, Quarterback
• Cap savings if released: $17.8 million
• Dead money: $18.8 million
• Post June-1 designation cap savings if released: $27 million
• Post June-1 designation dead money: $9.6 million
Analysis: Tannehill is clearly the best quarterback on the roster, but if the Titans decide this is the offseason to “blow things up” and start fresh, releasing Tannehill would give the team quite a bit of spending cash. But who would the 2023 starter be? Neither Josh Dobbs nor Malik Willis appears ready to step into that role at this point, and veteran quarterbacks are pricey on the free-agent market. So it’s certainly possible that the Titans would seek to re-structure Tannehill’s contract, trimming his currently debilitating 2023 cap hit of $36.6 million.
Note: Dead money is the salary-cap charge a team gets stuck with for players no longer on the roster. It’s basically a compilation of bonuses that have been spread out evenly over the span of the contract. The remaining bonuses on a contract are accelerated when a player is released.
A post-June 1 designation allows teams to divide the accelerated charges (mentioned above) into two seasons, instead of just one. Teams are allowed two of these per year. The hitch, however, is that even though the player can actually be released before June 1, the team doesn’t get the salary-cap relief until after June 1.
