One Deadline That Will Force Decisions on Several Players

March 20 is a significant day for Zach Cunningham, Bud Dupree, Rodger Saffold and others based on the terms of their contracts.

NASHVILLE – One of the biggest questions for the Tennessee Titans this offseason is which players will be cut – or have their contracts restructured – to create much-needed salary-cap room for the team.

Those kinds of moves typically occur in the weeks leading up to the start of the NFL year and its free agency period, which begins on March 16.

There is a deadline when it comes to providing some of those answers, though. It is March 20, which is when several Titans players are scheduled to receive roster bonuses or salary guarantees. If franchise officials plan to move on from those players, they likely will do so before March 20. Otherwise it would be a waste of money to pay roster bonuses and/or guarantee contracts of players likely to be cut.

Here’s a look at some of the players and their respective situations:

• ILB Zach Cunningham – Cunningham’s base salary of $10 million for 2022 becomes fully guaranteed as of March 20, the fifth day of the league year, per OverTheCap. As matters stand now, the contract is only guaranteed for injury. So if the Titans cut Cunningham before March 20th, they wouldn’t have to worry about any dead money.

There is also the option of restructuring Cunningham’s contract. A deal like that could allow the Titans to keep Cunningham and save $6 million against the salary cap this year, per OTC.

• LG Rodger Saffold – March 20 is also a key date to watch for Saffold as he is scheduled to receive a $1 million roster bonus that day. Is it unthinkable the Titans would pay Saffold the $1 million bonus and still decide at some later point to release him? No, but logic would suggest otherwise.

A three-year starter for the Titans, Saffold may be a leading candidate for release, as the Titans would free up $10.4 million in cap space with such a move.

• CB Jackrabbit Jenkins – The fifth day of the NFL year, comes into play with Jenkins as well. He’s scheduled to receive a $500,000 bonus if he’s on the roster at that point. That’s not a huge amount of money in the NFL world, but again, if the Titans knew they were moving on from Jenkins, it would make no sense to wait until after he receives the roster bonus.

• T Kendall Lamm – Lamm is due a $500,000 roster bonus on March 20, and this would seem to be a fairly obvious one for the Titans to avoid. The Titans could save more than $3 million of cap space by cutting Lamm, who played just 87 offensive snaps last season. So, it seems likely the Titans will cut him before March 20.

• OLB Bud Dupree – March 20 is an important date for Dupree as well, but more so as it pertains to 2023 than 2022. Assuming he’s still on the roster in just over a month, then $1.25 million of Dupree’s 2023 salary becomes guaranteed. That’s almost certain to happen, as the Titans have shown no inclination to cut Dupree after just one year – and would be in a huge financial hole if they did so anyway.