Music City Miracle | A Titans Franchise

[Adam14]

[Rexis]

I love the last layout.

[Adam14]

Quote: Originally Posted by rexis

I love the last layout.

It takes a while to get it to work out just right, so I'm planning on doing it on important games only.

[delija66]

DA BEARS!.........

[Adam14]

Titans Franchise Jones, Watch Hope Walk
The Titans did their best to sustain a large number of starters from the previous season by first choosing to use the franchise tag on defensive tackle Jason Jones. Jones backed up an impressive 2010 season with a solid 2011 campaign. However, despite the solid stats, the teams were unable to come to an agreement on a new contract. Jones reportedly was looking to a six year contract worth roughly seventy-five to eighty million dollars while the Titans were not interested in going over the ten million per year level. The two sides appear to be interested in continuing talks after the off-season is complete. They also agreed to terms with guard Jake Scott on a five year contract worth a reported twenty-six million. Linebackers Gerald McRath and Casey Matthews were both re-signed to seven and six year deals respectively. Tight ends Jared Cook and Cameron Morrah were also brought back. Finally, the Titans agreed to a monster contract with safety Michael Griffin. Griffin, a former first round pick, has played his entire five year career with the Titans. He agreed to a seven year contract worth just over sixty-five million dollars with more than twenty-six guaranteed.

Unfortunately, opposite him, Chris Hope was not re-signed. Hope, a ten year pro, had played the last six seasons with the Titans as their starting strong safety. It would appear that the Titans are looking for a youth movement. Along with Hope, the Titans also chose not to re-sign cornerback Jason McCourty. "It's unfortunate that we had to let Jason go, but it was in the best interest of his future. He was looking to take on a starting role, and with Alterraun and Cortland established, we just couldn't make that happen here." Said Titans GM Mike Reinfeldt. Reinfeldt would later state, "we'll keep in contact with Jason, and if he fails to find a team he'd like to join, we'll still work to bring him back to the Titans organization." Along with Hope and McCourty, backups Jovan Haye [DT], Troy Kropog [OT], Javon Ringer [HB], and Jerious Norwood [HB] were among the notable releases.

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Titans Fail to Find SS Replacement, Sign Two
The Titans front office appeared to have one thing in mind as they entered free agency this year. Find a replacement for Chris Hope at safety. Unfortunately, no viable solutions surfaced and it would appear that a first round pick that could have initially been spent on a cornerback or offensive line, will now have to be spent on a strong safety.

In other news, the Titans agreed to terms with just two players. They first agreed to terms with six year pro, linebacker Thomas Howard. Howard, 29, played his first five seasons with the Raiders before playing the 2011 season with the Texans. He comes in to provide incredible depth at the linebacker position. Along with Howard, the Titans signed running back Kevin Smith. Smith, 25, played three season with Lions before being released due to the play of Jahvid Best. Smith looks to be the backup to Chris Johnson and the power type player the Titans lost when LenDale White was traded.

[Adam14]

The 2013 NFL Draft is officially behind us. From first overall pick Dre Kirkpatrick out of Alabama to Mr. Irrelevant, Penn State's Jack Crawford. No current players changed hands, however three trades in the first round caused quite a mix up that shook the draft all the way down. Here's a quick recap of the first round.

San Francisco 49ers	CB	Dre Kirkpatrick	Alabama
Oakland Raiders	OG	Stephen Good	Oklahoma
Kansas City Chiefs	WR	Justin Blackmon	Oklahoma St.
Detroit Lions	C	David Molk	Michigan

After the Lions selection there was a long pause as Philadelphia found themselves a pick short of picking up David Molk. After nearly eight minutes of time passed, a trade was announced. The Bengals moved up, giving both their first and second round picks [19th & 51st overall] in return for the fifth overall pick to snag the top linebacker prospect, Notre Dame's Manti Teo.

Cincinnati Bengals via Eagles

MLB

Manti Teo

Notre Dame

The next five picks came off in a fairly quick pace until Cleveland's selection came at eleven.

Dallas Cowboys	FS	Janzen Jackson	Tennessee
New York Jets	OLB	Ronnell Lewis	Oklahoma
Atlanta Falcons	LB	Courtney Upshaw	Alabama
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	CB	Janoris Jenkins	Florida
Jacksonville Jaguars	CB	Donnie Fletcher	Boston College

Cleveland had missed out on Ronnell Lewis and felt taking defensive tackle Marcus Fonton at 11 was too high [he'd later go 14th to Washington] so they elected to shop their pick to potential takers who were interested in Andrew Luck. Minnesota was more than willing to listen. The Vikings kept their first round pick in 2012, but elected to give up both their first and third round picks in 2013, as well as, their second round pick in this year's draft to take Luck.

Minnesota Vikings via Browns	QB	Andrwe Luck	Stanford
Miami Dolphins	HB	Marc Tyler	USC

Two picks later at thirteen was the Buffalo Bills. They were sitting there hoping Luck would slip two more picks to them. Unfortunately, as soon as the Cincinnati-Minnesota trade was announced, they knew they were out of the Luck equation. That said, safety Mark Barron was still on the board, a top ten considered pick, the Bills began shopping his market. The Titans felt that they could wait four picks to get either Barron or LSU's Brandon Tyler at seventeen. Denver however, knew neither would be available at twenty-eight and pulled the trigger. The Bills received the Broncos first, second, and fourth round picks [28th, 60th, & 124th respectively] in exchange for the thirteenth overall pick. The rest of the draft seemingly went smoothly without much trade discussions.

Denver Broncos via Bills	SS	Mark Barron	Alabama
Washington Redskins	DT	Marcus Forston	Miami
Houston Texans	FS	Craig Loston	LSU
Carolina Panthers	OG	Kelechi Osemele	Iowa State
Tennessee Titans	SS	Brandon Taylor	LSU
Minnesota Vikings	OG	Cordy Glenn	Georgia
Philadelphia Eagles via Bengals	OLB	Nico Johnson	Alabama
St. Louis Rams	WR	Jarrett Boykin	Virginia Tech
San Diego Chargers	CB	Cliff Harris	Oregon
Seattle Seahawks	CB	Greg McCoy	TCU
Pittsburgh Steelers	OT	Mike Ryan	Connecticut
Green Bay Packers	CB	Jamell Fleming	Oklahoma
New Orleans Saints	OLB	Travis Lewis	Oklahoma
Indianapolis Colts	C	Ben Jones	Georgia
Arizona Cardinals	OLB	Jelani Jenkins	Florida
Buffalo Bills via Broncos	OT	Matt Kalil	USC
New York Giants	OT	Levy Adcock	Oklahoma St.
Baltimore Ravens	C	Jeremiah Hatch	Kansas
New England Patriots	OG	Lonnie Edwards	Texas Tech
Chicago Bears	C	Michael Brewster	Ohio State

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Titans Draft Review

Round 1, Pick 17	SS	Brandon Taylor	LSU
Round 2, Pick 17	CB	Neiko Thorpe	Auburn
Round 3, Pick 17	TE	Coby Fleener	Stanford
Round 4, Pick 17	DT	Kheeston Randall	Texas
Round 5, Pick 17	CB	Brandon Boykin	Georgia
Round 7, Pick 17	OG	Trevor Robinson	Notre Dame

SS Brandon Taylor LSU - 6'0 195lbs - 83 Overall - A Potential
Review | Love the pick here. I could of moved up to snag Barron, but I liked his 40 time better and stuck with him. Barron's an 87 overall, but Taylor's got a lot more speed.

CB Neiko Thorpe Auburn - 6'1 189lbs - 77 Overall - B Potential
Review | Cam's teammate in Auburn is a great replacement for McCourty. I wanted a DT here in case I couldn't sign Jones to a long-term deal, but I couldn't pass him up.

TE Coby Fleener Stanford - 6'6 247lbs - 72 Overall - B Potential
Review | Another pick that should of been a DT, but there wasn't any viable option, so I took Fleener. He had Luck throwing to him in college, that means he can't be a slouch. Looks like Scaife might be on his way out soon.

Last Picks were merely depth choices.

[Rexis]

Three players that will be stars in a couple/few years, I call it a good draft.

[Adam14]

Quote: Originally Posted by rexis

Three players that will be stars in a couple/few years, I call it a good draft.

I doubt Fleener will ever unseat Cook at Tight end, but maybe. Taylor's a starter right off the bat and Thorpe probably won't start unless I have trouble re-signing Finnegan and/or Verner.