Absences of Highest-Paid Players Costing Titans

More than half of the top 10 in salary cap numbers have missed or will miss time

Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports

Pay for play? For the Tennessee Titans in 2019 it has been more like pay for pain.

Of the 10 highest-paid players on the roster, based on salary cap numbers, five have missed or will miss time due to injury. The latest is cornerback Malcolm Butler, whose cap number of $13.1 million is the highest among all players on the defense and third overall. Butler has been ruled out of this week’s game against Kansas City and potentially could miss the rest of the season with a wrist injury.

Then there is quarterback Marcus Mariota, whose actual salary and cap numbers are tops among the Titans. He has not played the last three games simply because he did not perform well enough in the first six.

“No one is playing well enough, and that’s how I look at it,” coach Mike Vrabel said Monday, a day after a 30-20 loss at Carolina dropped the Titans to 4-5. “I would hate for somebody to walk in here today and say, ‘I did my job.’ That would be the absolute worst attitude that we could possibly have is that, ‘Well, I did what I was supposed to do. Maybe some of the rest of these guys could get going.’ I don’t want that attitude.”

He's probably right. But the bigger issue might be that the best players simply are not playing – or have not played – often enough. The combined cap number of the top 10 (six on offense, including three offensive linemen, and four on defense) is $103.22 million. That represents 54.9 percent of the 2019 salary cap ceiling of $188.2 million.

A look at the Titans’ top 10 players in terms of salary cap numbers and what has happened with them through the first nine games:

• Marcus Mariota, QB ($20.922 million): Benched after six games in favor of Ryan Tannehill, has not played since.

• Taylor Lewan, LT ($13.288 million): Was suspended for the first four games due to a violation of the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

• Malcolm Butler, CB ($13.1 million): Is out for the remainder of the season (he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday) with a wrist injury sustained late in the first half of Sunday’s loss at Carolina.

• Jurrell Casey, DT ($12.719 million): A shoulder injury on the final defensive snap against Tampa Bay caused him to miss the game at Carolina. His status for this week is undetermined.

• Logan Ryan, CB ($10.667 million): Tied for the team lead with three interceptions, is second with three and a half sacks and is on pace for a career-high in tackles. Arguably the Titans’ Defensive MVP to this point.

• DaQuan Jones, DL ($7.333 million): Does a lot of things that don’t show up in the stats but is a stalwart up front and has played every game. Pro Football Focus grades him as Tennessee’s best player in 2019.

• Corey Davis, WR ($6.926 million): Has played every game but is second on the team with 28 receptions, 13 fewer than he had at this time last season, and two touchdown receptions.

• Delanie Walker, TW ($6.515 million): Has missed the last two games due to recurring issues with the ankle injury that sidelined him for almost all of 2018. No word on when he might return.

• Rodger Saffold, LG ($6.375 million): One of two offensive linemen who has started every game, but a concussion sustained on the opening drive against Tampa Bay sidelined him for the remainder of that contest.

• Ben Jones, C ($5.375 million): Missed the first game of his career Sunday with a concussion. His status going forward is undetermined.

Eleventh on the list is outside linebacker Cameron Wake, who missed two games (and most of a third) earlier this season with a hamstring injury. At 37 years old, Wake is a situational player and against Carolina that situation (pass rush) did not arise often. He was on the field for just 12 snaps.

No one among that group has a history of injury issues other than Mariota, who is in the option year of his rookie contract, which was negotiated before he ever played a game or sustained an injury in the NFL.

For example, Casey played all but three games in his first eight seasons and Ryan missed three contests in the six years before this one. Lewan sat out just two games in the previous four seasons, and Saffold was on the field for all but two over the three prior campaigns. Walker sustained the ankle injury in the 2018 opener and missed the remainder of the season. Before that, though, he had played at least 14 games in 11 straight seasons and all 16 four times over that stretch.

In other words, when the Titans decided to pay all of those players, they had reason to think that they would get a full season – or close to it – from all of them. That has not been the case this year.

“I usually play through injuries, but this happened at the dislocation in my ankle last season,” Walker said of his current issue. “They thought it would be best if I take some pressure off of it. … I truly do expect to play. I’m looking forward to playing, getting back on the field and that’s my goal.”