With free agency rapidly approaching, there has been at least some debate about what the Tennessee Titans should do with Harold Landry.
Landry is coming off a career year in 2021 after notching 12 sacks and playing a vital role in Tennessee’s defensive revival.
Based on what we’ve seen, there is overwhelming support among the fan base for the Titans retaining Landry, and that’s the camp we’re in.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell is also in that camp, as he lists bringing Landry back as one move the Titans should make this offseason. He explains how Tennessee can go about doing that despite being $7 million or so over the cap.
“The Titans have lost a series of young contributors over the past few years, often because they declined or chose to move on from their fifth-year option. Jack Conklin, Corey Davis and Adoree’ Jackson have all left in consecutive offseasons. This year, it’s a second-round pick coming off a breakthrough season who might hit free agency in Landry, who capped off a 12-sack, 22-knockdown season by making it to the Pro Bowl.
“Signing Landry isn’t going to be a walk in the park. They committed a huge sum of money to Bud Dupree last offseason, and the former Steelers linebacker has his $16 million base salary for 2022 guaranteed. Defensive end Jeffery Simmons and receiver A.J. Brown are eligible for significant contract extensions. Tennessee is also nearly $7 million over the projected cap for 2022, although it can clear out $17.4 million by releasing Zach Cunningham and Janoris Jenkins and free up millions more by restructuring the contracts of Dupree, Derrick Henry, Kevin Byard and Taylor Lewan. It’s not going to be a breeze, but it should be possible to get a deal done for Landy.
“What would that contract look like? A franchise tag would come in around $17.4 million — although all of that money would be on the 2022 cap, reducing the organization’s financial flexibility. A new deal would probably come in north of the four-year, $60 million deal Trey Hendrickson signed with the Bengals last offseason. If the Titans are willing to go somewhere around $17 million per season, that’s probably right around what it’ll take to bring back Landry.”
Landry is simply too important for the Titans to let walk. If he flies the coop, it would leave a huge hole for Tennessee to fill, and chances are they won’t be able to adequately fill it right away, which would be a huge issue for a win-now team like Tennessee that leaned on its defense in 2021.
Barnwell’s estimation that a $17 million per year deal will get it done is exactly what we’ve been saying, and there’s good reason.
Landry, who has made it clear on several occasions that he wants to return to Nashville, reportedly wants to be the highest-paid player in the outside linebackers room, a distinction currently owned by Bud Dupree.
Dupree’s annual average is $16.5 million, so the aforementioned $17 million per year deal should suffice. From there, the Titans need to make Landry’s 2022 cap hit as friendly as possible by backloading his deal.
The Titans also have the franchise tag at their disposal, but we don’t see it being used as anything more than an avenue to buy more time for contract talks.
After all, the franchise tag ($17.4 million) would likely cost more than the annual average of a new deal, and even more so if the Titans can keep Landry’s first-year number low.
The bottom line is this: letting Landry go would be a colossal mistake, and it’s one we don’t expect the Titans to make.
