PHOENIX – At the NFL’s annual meeting on Monday, Mike Vrabel didn’t sound like a coach who’s on the verge of moving on from three of his most important and highest-paid players.
But as has increasingly become the case since his old GM orchestrated a trade of A.J. Brown not too long after the coach ensured the star receiver would be around for the length of his tenure as Titans coach, Vrabel left himself some wiggle room when talking about the futures of Ryan Tannehill, Kevin Byard and Derrick Henry.
Asked if Tannehill would be his quarterback in September when the season starts, Vrabel sounded convicted but clearly referenced the case of Brown.
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“Of course,” he said. “I mean of course we do. We’re in March, we’re continuing to build a football team, the best football team we can and Ryan’s healthy, he’s getting healthy, I would say. He’s putting work in, it’s been good to see him around the building. So yeah, we always expect that.
“But to make predictions, I think I’ve been through this last year, I’m not going to commit to anybody being on our roster in September. I’ve seen it change too quickly. Of course, we want Ryan as our quarterback and everybody else that’s helped us win. That’s what we want.”
Ran Carthon was firmer on Tannehill later in the day.
Probably the strongest words yet from #Titans on Ryan Tannehill come from Ran Carthon at owners meetings. pic.twitter.com/FILD2SR1hV
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) March 27, 2023
The Titans currently have $7.15 million in salary cap space and their draft picks will account for $4.38 million of that, leaving with $2.77 million. Tannehill’s $38.6 million cap number is their biggest financial obstacle, and an extension could bring that number down significantly.
The Titans have also reportedly asked Byard to take a pay cut, a reasonable and standard move at this stage of a deal like his despite the continuing quality of his play. He’s due a $13.6 million base salary, and his cap number is $19.623 because the team restructured his deal twice previously when creating cap room.
“Kevin’s under contract, Kevin’s a valuable, valuable member of our football team,” Vrabel said. “I’ve said that, his durability and his leadership. So we’ll see where things go. But as of now there is nothing to report. The communication has been really good. I’ve tried to make a great connection with him as a player and a captain on our team for five years
“But those are conversations that happen between Kevin and his agent and Ran and myself (as we) try to find ways to continue to find ways to improve our football team.”
Vrabel easily struck a balance between the importance Tannehill, Byard and Henry have had for the Titans and could have going forward, the strength of the personal relationships he has with them and other veterans and the business dealings that have to go on for the Titans right now at this stage of team-building.
He said team leadership decided it wanted to connect with every player and coach, and some of those connections are stronger than others.
“We want to get to know them, we want to be able to help them – on the field, that’s our first job, but off the field as well with anything that they have with what we have we’re together, a lot,” Vrabel said. “That personal 
connection, that means something. But there is a business side, there is a professional side that we all have to work through.
"All these players that have been here for five years since I’ve been here, really have meant a lot to our program, to our team, to our organization, to our fans, to our coaching staff. So we’ll continue to work through all of those professional conversations the best that we can as we continue to build a football team that we feel like we can build a championship."
What's created monumental discussions in the media has merely been the Titans doing business.
"This is just having conversations throughout the roster with players, whose contracts are up, or they have years remaining on their contract or players that are restricted free agents," he said. "You’re always trying to have honest conversations with them and understand there is a business side of this and trying to do what’s best for the team.”
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