Best Titans’ Free Agent Fits: Wide Receiver
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans’ receiver group in 2022 was certainly not one of the best in the league. While rookies Treylon Burks and Kyle Philips showed some flashes, neither were on the field enough to make the impact the Titans needed. Veteran Robert Woods paced the group with 53 catches for 527 yards, but that is very pedestrian for a leading receiver in the NFL and odds are Woods is released soon to clear $12 million in salary cap space. The only other receiver of note that played for the Titans in 2022 was Nick Westrbook-Ikhine. Westbrook-Ikhine tallied 25 catches and 397 yards. Westbrook-Ikhine is a solid depth piece, but he is also a restricted free agent. The Titans may be willing to let him walk in pursuit of an upgrade.
The point of that rundown is to show how much change the Titans’ receiver room may see this offseason. The Titans obviously should draft a wide receiver, but they also could stand to add a veteran in free agency. It is not a great crop of free agents at wide receiver this year and there are always cuts between now and the beginning of free agency on March 15, but let’s take a look at some names not only expected to hit the open market, but that would be solid fits with the Titans.
All names and contract information collected from Spotrac.com
Allen Lazard – 27.2 Years Old
Lazard has been with the Green Bay Packers for the first five seasons of his career. He is a perfect match for the Titans’ offense with his big body(6’5”, 227 LBs) and down the field ability(13.2 yards per catch). He would give the Titans not only a viable threat in the passing game, but someone, coming from that Packers’ offense, that is no stranger to blocking in the run game. Something we know is important to Mike Vrabel at the position.
Lazard has also been productive and durable. He has played in at least 15 games in three out of the last four years. He has gone over 450 yards and 33 catches in all of the past four seasons including the best year of his career in 2022(60 catches, 788 yards). Lazard would be a nice complement to Treylon Burks and allow the Titans to upgrade in talent while not sacrificing their want for “first-off-the-bus” looking players.
Per Spotrac, Lazard’s estimated contract is three years for $37.5 million. An average annual value of about $12.5 million. While that may seem like a lot at first, NFL contracts often are structured to where the player would have a low salary in year one with the signing bonus being the largest chunk of money the player gets right away, with the salary increasing over the remaining years of the contract.
The Titans have done this recently with Harold Landry, Bud Dupree and others. It is common in the NFL, not just in Tennessee. Lazard’s cap hit in 2023 would likely fall below $10 million, making it easy to fit him in without taking too much of the Titans’ limited cap space this offseason. The Titans’ cap space booms in 2024 and Lazard’s contract will be very reasonable after one season, if it isn’t already. Lazard should be the Titans’ top target if they want a decent receiver in free agency. He checks all the boxes.
Mack Hollins – 29.4 Years Old
If the Titans want to go with a similar style player to Lazard, but for much cheaper, Hollins would be a great fit. Hollins is also a monster at 6’4” and 221 pounds. His yards per catch average is 12.7 yards. So, not quite the player Lazard is, but a comparable player nonetheless. Hollins did not get off to a fast start in his career. He bounced around between Philadelphia and Miami from 2017-2021, but Hollins had his best season yet in Las Vegas in 2022 and proved he deserved to be in the NFL.
Hollins put up 57 catches and 690 yards in Vegas last year including a dominant performance Titans’ fans will surely remember when he dropped eight catches, 158 yards and a touchdown on the Titans in Week 3. Hollins is a boundary receiver who can go up and get the ball in contested catch situations even if he isn’t the fastest player on the field. He is physical enough to block in the Titans’ offense as he was required to do for Raiders’ back Josh Jacobs last year. Hollins is expected to receive a one-year deal around $2.5 million which would be quite the bargain for the Titans if they want to go for a cheaper veteran option.
Demarcus Robinson – 28.3 Years Old
Robinson isn’t the physically imposing player that Lazard and Hollins are, but he is willing to play with physicality as he demonstrated in the Baltimore Ravens’ run-based offense last season. Robinson has been in the NFL since 2016, spending the first six years of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs before spending last season with the Ravens.
One big thing that stands out about Robinson is his durability. Robinson has played in every game possible of his entire career. Something that Titans are sorely needing. Along with durability, he has been a more consistently productive player than Hollins. Hollins has put up 113 catches and 1,440 yards to date, while Robinson has put up 169 catches for 2236 yards and double the touchdowns(20 to 10).
Robinson, like Hollins, should receive a one-year, $2.5-3 million contract. If the Titans prefer to go with a more productive player while sacrificing some size, Robinson could fit the bill.
Mecole Hardman – 24.9 Years Old
Hardman is the youngest player, the smallest player and the fastest player we have discussed yet. Mike Vrabel did mention the need to get fastest this offseason and while it may be smarter to accomplish that in the draft, adding Hardman would certainly check that box as well.
Up until 2022, Hardman had been an iron man. Playing in every game of his first three seasons, but last season he dealt with some injuries and only played in eight games. This could be looked at as a double-edged sword. On one hand, Hardman missing games could keep his price down and make him more of a bargain for the Titans. On the other hand, the Titans cannot afford to sink any more money into players who cannot stay on the field.
When Hardman does play though, he is electric. He’s put up 2088 yards on 151 catches in his career so far. He may be small(5’10, 187 LBs), but makes up for it with dynamic speed. Hardman can not only be used as a receiver, but can be used on gadget plays and trick plays to confuse defenses. His current contract estimation is 4 years for $41.5 million. Averaging about $10.3 million a season.
We discussed why that $10.3 million number would not be the cap hit he is responsible for in year one earlier, but for a player who is smaller and just missed more than half a season, the Titans would most likely feel more comfortable passing on Hardman for Lazard if they intend to give out that kind of deal.
Parris Campbell – 25.6 Years Old
The cheaper alternative to the Hardman-style player is Campbell. Campbell is the most risky on the list health-wise having only played in 32 games out of a possible 66 games in his career. However, that includes playing in every game of the 2022 season for the Indianapolis Colts. It is possible Campbell has figured out what he needs to do to stay healthy. It is also possible he saw he was in a contract year and did more to stay on the field, which would also be concerning.
The big difference between small, quick players like Hardman and Campbell is what it will cost to get them. Hardman is looking at upwards of $10 million for multiple years while Campbell is estimated to receive around $2.5 million on a one or two-year deal. If both are healthy, Campbell may be the better player. In Indianapolis in 2022, Campbell put up 63 catches for 623 yards. Hardman has never caught that many passes and only surpassed that yardage total once in his career despite playing in a Kansas City Chiefs offense under Andy Reid and with Patrick Mahomes throwing him the ball.
Campbell, like Hardman, can play in the slot and be a gadget player in an offense, something the Titans don’t clearly have right now. While there is more health risk, the financial risk is much lesser with Campbell than with than Hardman. The Titans may be more willing to take a low-risk shot on Campbell because of that.
There are other options as well like JuJu Smith-Schuster. Smith-Schuster is estimated to receive a four-year deal worth nearly $60 million and that is probably out of the Titans’ price range. Likewise, a player like Jakobi Meyers is probably the most talented receiver expected to hit the market, but he will most likely command a four-year deal worth nearly $50 million.
While that may be similar to Lazard in yearly amount, the extra year on the deal will increase the guaranteed money as well. It’s also reasonable to think that if Meyers is the top option on the market at only 26 years old, he may get even more than his projection. One last option that some Titans’ fans seem to be interested in is DJ Chark. Chark may be the most talented name of the bunch, but doesn’t seem like a great fit in the Titans’ run-heavy offense. Chark would be affordable at his estimation of 3 years and $28 million, but the fit just seems shaky.
The Titans will definitely need to make an addition at receiver in the NFL draft and probably need to do it early as well, but if they do want to make an addition in free agency as part of the receiver makeover, one of the five names above seems like the best option.
Top Three Defensive Needs: Andrew Thomison looks at the top three positions of need for the Titans entering the 2023 season. CLICK HERE
Titans 'Interested' in Carr: The Titans continue to be linked to outside quarterback options this offseason. This time it is Derek Carr, former Las Vegas Raider. CLICK HERE
Jets "Much Higher" On Tannehill: The New York Jets are “much higher” on Titans’ quarterback Ryan Tannehill than many people believe according to one prominent New York reporter. CLICK HERE
