The Tennessee Titans find themselves in a good situation

With the addition of ex-Patriots Malcolm Butler and Dion Lewis, the Titans now have a problem most NFL teams would love to have.

NFL Free Agency was at its craziest point before the new league year even began. The Titans participated, surprising the NFL world on Tuesday evening. Jon Robinson made two blockbuster signings to fill two needs on both sides of the ball.

First, the Titans signed cornerback Malcolm Butler on a huge five-year contract worth $61m with a whopping $30m guaranteed. As most thought he it was over, he made another move. He brought in running back Dion Lewis. That contract was a four-year worth up to $20m.

Both players have exceptional talent. Importantly, they know what it takes to make it to the championship. And thankfully they are more than happy to join  the Titans. Both players have passion for the game, the love for football, and those are the types of players Robinson aspire to have.

What Does This Mean For The Roster?

Let’s hash out the running back situation first. The Titans are big fans of Derrick Henry. Jon Robinson drafted him and Henry was a steal. I mean, Henry was in the draft fresh off of winning the Heisman Trophy, but somehow fell to the Titans in the second round. Releasing DeMarco Murray meant two things: 1) Jon Robinson wanted to clear up some cap space. 2) They’re ready to feed Henry. It was a win-win for both the general manager and the coaches.

Unless there is some kind of vendetta against Henry from head coach Mike Vrabel and his coaching staff, I would expect there’s about a 99% chance Henry is the starting running back come week one of the regular season. However, as all coaches might say, there’s no guaranteed starting job in the NFL. So Henry may have to work for that.

You can expect Lewis’ role as more of a change of pace back. I’ve been seeing a lot of people compare this duo to the Mark Ingram/Alvin Kamara duo in New Orleans. Lewis also makes up for losing Murray, because losing Murray meant we lost those sure catching-hands in the backfield. Lewis can catch in the backfield too, and his speed is deadly afterwards. I guess you can think of it as the Titans simply upgraded the one-two punch at running back that they’ve had for the last several years with Murray/Henry.

Now, with the secondary, if you’re paying a guy $61m with $30m guaranteed, you’re not going to put him at cornerback 2 or 3. I think it’s fully expected that Malcolm Butler will be the Titans CB1, with Adoree Jackson on the opposite side as CB2 and Logan Ryan in the slot. Some argued that, because of Jackson’s speed, he will end up in the slot. But Jackson did well last season, and I wouldn’t mess with his progess by making him move.

However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ryan and Jackson alternating throughout the season, depending on who the Titans are playing and if they have a solid weapon in the slot. But, for the most part, I would expect to see Ryan in the slot, because the Titans’ new defensive coordinator Dean Pees enjoys having three CB sets out on the field.