The Tennessee Titans have a total of 34 pending free agents to make decisions on this offseason, with right guard Nate Davis being among Tennessee’s highest priorities.
After a shaky 2021 campaign, Davis rebounded well in 2022, and that’s despite the abject disaster that was the group as a whole.
He did miss five games due to injury, which is one of the bigger concerns about him, but the Charlotte product was easily Tennessee’s second-best offensive lineman after Ben Jones.
Davis is a solid player the Titans should be interested in bringing back, but at the right price.
But Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger goes a step further and believes that Davis is the one free agent Tennessee can’t afford to lose. Here’s his take.
The Titans’ offensive line was a major weakness throughout the 2022 season once left tackle Taylor Lewan went down with an injury, but Davis was a rare bright spot, earning a career-high 66.8 pass-blocking grade. The last thing Tennessee should be doing is letting solid offensive linemen walk, especially as they work out their quarterback situation going forward.
Linebacker David Long Jr. is another good option here, but Tennessee may need to save money on defense with two big edge defender contracts, two big safety contracts and a pending extension for interior defender Jeffery Simmons that should comfortably surpass $20 million per year.
Re-signing Davis solves at least one spot for the Titans in an offseason where they may need to fill four, and he’ll likely come at a reasonable price, which is important for a Tennessee team that won’t have a ton of cap space.
Spotrac estimates Davis’ market value at a three-year deal worth $7.4 million per, which would rank 19th among all guards. If that’s what it takes, Davis should remain in Nashville.