NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The deadline for an unlikely Derrick Henry extension is Wednesday.

Beyond that, the Titans have three other key players heading into contract years. in a normal year, history suggests one of them would get an extension and the Titans would remove all worry of losing him next spring in free agency. 

Titans have been very proactive in recent summers, extending players like Taylor Lewan and Kevin Byard before they got close to the free market.JSmithTDBucsBut the slowed revenue stream ahead with limited capacity at NFL stadiums due to the coronavirus pandemic makes the future of the salary cap unknown. New TV deals are on the horizon – the contract with ESPN runs out in 2021 and all the other deals expire in 2022. A big part of the league’s push to get the CBA done before this season was to line up negotiations with those broadcast partners. [Unlocked]

With an uncertain financial landscape ahead, it’s going to be far more difficult for Jon Robinson to give a long-term deal to Henry or one or the team’s three other key players heading into contract years: Jonnu Smith, Jayon Brown and DaQuan Jones.

apple icon 144x144 precomposed“I'm a big analogy guy,” Jon Robinson said. “It's no different than if I was if I was working for Pepsi or Coke, and I knew that we weren't going to have as many sales. …You wouldn't go out and buy a new house.

"I don't know what that's going to look like. It's something that we will certainly talk about. You know, we've talked to the players and the reps. There's a lot of uncertainty right now with everything, and I would say certainly with the salary cap too, because we've got to be mindful. What you don't want to do is do something and then you've got to undo it or try to unpack it a year, two years from now, given the uncertainty of the salary cap.”

It’s certainly a bad time to be looking for a new deal, with the Titans or anyone else – unless you are an absolute giant in the sport like Patrick Mahomes.