Monday at the NFL’s Owner Meetings in Arizona Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said not only is star safety Kevin Byard still a Titan but called him a “valuable, valuable” member or our football team.
That statement came on the heels of general manager Ran Carthon saying Sunday there was no truth to reports that Byard asked for his release after being asked to take a pay cut.
If the Titans do in face want Byard to take a pay cut Vrabel’s answer Monday did not do anything to make him seem less valuable, “Kevin is under contract. Kevin is a valuable, valuable member of our football team. I’ve said that his durability and his leadership and we’ll see where things go, but as of now there is nothing to report. Communication has been really good. Tried to make a great connection with him as a player and a captain on our team for five years. Those are conversations that happen between Kevin, his agent, Ran and myself. Try to find ways to continually improve our football team.”
The Titans continue to be strapped for space under the salary despite structuring six cap friendly deals to start free agency. Reports are the Titans have under $8-million in cap space left and will need over $4-million to sign their draft picks.
Of course the Titans current cap conundrum was constructed by the previous general manager Jon Robinson leaving Carthon to try to fix it while trying to fix the Titans roster at the same time.
Byard has been arguably the Titans best defensive player over the last decade earning All-Pro honors two times, recording 27 interceptions and not missing a single game due to injury.
The problem now for Carthon is the 5-year, $70.5-million deal Byard signed that leaves him with a cap hit of almost $20-million this coming season. Byard restructured his deal in March of 2022 to help the team, but that restructure has pushed his number to what has to be an uncomfortable level for the team.
If the Titans waived Byard before June they would take on another $13-million in dead money, but would free up $6-million against the cap.