After Long Wait, Kelly Aims for Long Run as a Starter

Tennessee's top backup at tackle for the past four years gets a new deal that makes him a starter

NASHVILLE – For eight years Dennis Kelly paid his dues.

It all paid off Monday when the Tennessee Titans rewarded the veteran offensive lineman with the biggest payday of his career. On the day he was free to negotiate with any of the NFL’s 32 teams, he re-signed with the Titans for three years and $21 million.

“It’s really cool,” he said Tuesday during a conference call. “I’ve been through a handful of different coaches and different situations. … [I like] being able to show that sticking to the grind and working hard still can pay off.”

The pact not only puts the 30-year-old in a different tax bracket, it puts him in a different spot on the depth chart. He will enter the new league year as the presumed starter at right tackle after four seasons as Tennessee’s primary backup at both tackle spots.

He will replace Jack Conklin, the starting right tackle for the past four seasons who agreed to a free-agent deal with Cleveland on Monday. Conklin was the Titans’ first choice but once he was gone franchise officials moved quickly to lock in Kelly.

We didn’t agree to terms until three-four hours into that [legal] tampering period,” Kelly said. “We were in contact with some other teams.

“… (The Titans) were pretty straightforward with me about how everything was going to play out. They said if it ends up being me that it’s going to be my spot. So … I’m preparing like I always have been, like I’m going to be a starter.”

This time, though, he actually is one.

A fifth-round pick by Philadelphia in 2012, he started 10 games for the Eagles as a rookie (seven at right tackle, three at right guard). Since then he has been credited with 21 starts in 75 games but seven of those were as an extra tight end.

He started five games at right tackle for Tennessee in 2018 when Conklin was injured. Last season, he played the first four games at left tackle while Taylor Lewan served a suspension for violation of the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

“It has its different challenges, but it also has the benefit of knowing that I’m going to be on one side – one set of assignments, one set of rules,” Kelly said of his new role. “So, it helps in that aspect of it. Obviously, I’m going to be playing a lot more and playing 70 snaps a game for 16 weeks. I’m excited for it because I’ve never really had a true opportunity like that. … I got one now.

“… You get in this game wanting to play. Hopefully, everything works out where I can be the starter for the Titans for a while now.”