A Fresh Perspective on Dennis Kelly's Contract

The three-year extension likely will keep the veteran tackle in Tennessee just one more year

NASHVILLE – It was not long ago that it seemed Dennis Kelly’s time finally had arrived.

Now, it is clear that his days with the Tennessee Titans are numbered.

Tennessee’s decision to select Georgia tackle Isaiah Wilson in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft completely altered the perception of the contract Kelly signed a little more than a month earlier.

At the time, the three-year, $17.25 million pact seemed to signal that the 30-year-old had a future as the Titans’ starting right tackle after four seasons as a backup. The money and the term represented a commitment he had not experienced in recent years. He even talked about how much he looked forward to the opportunity to settle into one position, one role.

The reality is that it was little more than a ‘thank you’ for what Kelly has done as the franchise looks forward to a future without him.

With Wilson on board – and in line to be the long-term answer at right tackle – Kelly’s contract effectively looks like a one-year deal that includes a nice guarantee. Likewise, the $4.75 million he got at signing feels more like a reward for services rendered than a retainer for what is to come.

Under the terms of the deal, as reported by OverTheCap.com, Tennessee can cut Kelly next year (after June 1) and it will only cost them a little more than $1.5 million in dead money for each of the remaining two years. Four players no longer on the roster will cost the Titans more than that this season.

The salary cap savings, in that case, would be $5 million in 2021 and $5.5 million in 2022 because much of the remaining money is backloaded into those two years. Kelly is scheduled to earn $11 million in base salary over the next three years. He will be paid only $1.5 million in 2020.

The bottom line is – at best – Kelly can still be the starting right tackle this season. But that will be as far as it goes. And that is assuming he can win the job that franchise officials only recently said was his.

“(Wilson) and (Kelly) will battle that out,” general manager Jon Robinson now says.

The moment he put pen to paper, Kelly thought he would get to spend some time in the spotlight. The decision to draft Wilson shed new light on what that contract really was.