Titans Choose Not to Use Franchise or Transition Tag

Tight end Jonnu Smith, other notable players remain on track to become free agents next week.

Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson was noncommittal recently on the idea that all key players from last season’s record-setting offense would be back in 2021.

As of Tuesday afternoon, nothing had changed. The Titans allowed the deadline to pass without using the franchise or transition tag to retain the rights to any of its pending free agents.

That means tight end Jonnu Smith, wide receiver Corey Davis and others, including inside linebacker Jayon Brown, remain on track to become free agents when the NFL’s new contract year begins on March 17.

The Titans can still work out deals with any of those players. That, however, seems increasingly unlikely, and Robinson and his staff will have a good amount of work to do in free agency and the draft to build depth at the tight end and wide receiver.

Tennessee currently has three tight ends under contract for 2021, Tommy Hudson, Parker Hesse and Jared Pinkey. None of the three undrafted players have appeared in a regular season game. Veteran Anthony Firkser is set to be a restricted free agent while Smith, MyCole Pruitt and Geoff Swaim are all set to be unrestricted free agents.

The Titans released veteran pass catcher Adam Humphires two weeks ago and there are few established, reliable options behind Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown, who has gone over 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons.

Smith, in particular, appeared to be a prime candidate for a franchise tag because the cost to do so with a tight end would be $10.167 million for 2021 (source: OverTheCap.com). Only special teams performers come at a lower cost with the franchise tag, which is determined by the average of the top five salaries at each position in the previous season.

Assuming the Titans don’t re-sign him, Smith will surely be a hot commodity among tight ends in free agency as he joins Hunter Henry of the Los Angeles Charges on the list of best available players at the position.

Titans are not tagging TE Jonnu Smith, per source. Smith heads to free agency.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2021

Smith’s receiving numbers have increased in each of his four NFL seasons even as he was an important blocker for two-time NFL rushing champion Derrick Henry. In 2020, he played in every game and set career highs in receptions (41), receiving yards (448) and touchdowns (eight). Smith set a franchise record for touchdown receptions by a tight end and, with the addition of one rushing touchdown, tied for third among all NFL tight ends in total touchdowns.

The 2017 third-round pick out of Florida International started his career as the Titans’ No. 2 tight end behind Delanie Walker. In his rookie season, he appeared in 16 games with 13 starts, recording 18 receptions for 157 yards and two touchdowns. He suffered a torn MCL in the Titans’ AFC Divisional round game against the New England Patriots.

He climbed to No. 1 on the depth chart early in 2018, his second in the league, after Walker sustained an ankle injury in that season’s opener. In 13 games (12 starts), Smith caught 20 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns before a season-ending MCL injury in Week 14.

In 2019, Smith started 14 of the Titans’ 16 games. The 6-foo-6, 248-pounder hauled in 35 passes for 439 yards and three touchdowns. He scored his first and only postseason touchdown in the Titans’ Divisional round upset of the No. 1-seeded Baltimore Ravens.

Davis, like Smith, enters free agency off a career season in which he had 984 yards and five touchdowns and equaled his career-best with 65 receptions in 2020. Tennessee elected last offseason not to exercise their fifth-year option on the 2017 fifth overall pick’s contract, which has allowed him to become a free agent this year.

A fifth-round pick in 2017, Brown suffered season-ending elbow injuries in the Titans’ Week 11 victory over the Baltimore Ravens this season. At the time, he led the team in tackles (76) and was on pace to break his career-high in that category (105 in 2019). Over four seasons with the Titans, Brown registered 330 total tackles, 17 tackles for a loss of yards and nine and a half sacks.