NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans have to cut $23,687,933 in scheduled 2023 salary by 3 p.m. CT on March 15 to be in compliance with the salary cap.
That number is according to Spotrac and has the Titans in the fourth-worst position in the league, better than only the Saints, Buccaneers and Jaguars.
The official 2023 salary cap number of $224.8 million was given to teams Monday, NFL Network reported.
But the Titans won’t simply need to get to a point where their most expensive 51 players cost less than their adjusted cap number, which includes over $1.8 million in rolled-over money from 2022.
They’ll need room to sign new players in free agency and to sign their draft class.
Cutting four players can save them $45.14 million dollars against the salary cap. Here’s a chart I included in Friday’s mailbag showing those potential savings. If they made all four of these moves, they’d come out more than $21.45 million under the cap. That would put them in the ninth-best shape in the league on the current list.
|
Player |
Cap |
Dead Cap |
Cap Savings |
|
Bud Dupree |
$20.2M |
$10.85M |
$9.35M |
|
Taylor Lewan |
$14.84M |
0 |
$14.84M |
|
Robert Woods |
$14.62M |
$2.6M |
$12.02M |
|
Zach Cunningham |
$13.43M |
$4.5M |
$8.93M |
|
Totals |
$90.82 |
$17.95 |
$45.14M |
Cutting Ryan Tannehill would save the Titans an additional $17.8 million, while the quarterback would also leave behind $18.8 million in dead money charges.
Tennessee could also extend Tannehill, which would help lower his $36.6 million scheduled 2023 cap hit. An expected new deal for Jeffery Simmons could actually lower his scheduled cap hit ($10.753 million) and an extension for Derrick Henry, who is entering the final year of his contract could lower his upcoming number from $16.37 million.
#Titans cap standing with the $224.8 2023 salary cap number out, per @spotrac. pic.twitter.com/SYnyOWHtRG
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) January 30, 2023