NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans have several players who will be operating on one-year contracts in 2025.
Setting aside that group of newcomers, the team has several players who will report to camp heading into the final year of their deals, playing to help the team advance from a terrible spot and to cap resumes that will prompt new decision-makers to offer them new contracts.
Let’s look at those guys and their prospects beyond this season, with input from former Titans scout and PK.com contributor Blake Beddingfield.
S Amani Hooker
Hooker is a steadying force in the middle of the field for the Titans, a quiet worker who’s fit what two coaching staffs have wanted. Last year, he had a great pairing with Quandre Diggs for the first half of the season, but had to help out Mike Brown for a bit before Daryl Worley emerged.
He’s missed at least three games in each of the last four seasons, and 20 of 68 in that time span.
The Titans signed Xavier Woods to a two-year deal, but they can easily get out of it after one season. They also drafted Kevin Winston out of Penn State in the third round, and he projected to be a better prospect than that if he wasn’t coming off a torn ACL.
Tennessee will surely measure price versus health and age as well as determining how well Woods played in his first season with the Titans as they make a decision on Hooker, who may be curious about playing elsewhere depending on how the season goes.
Blake Beddingfield's take on another contract: "Hooker played well last year but hasn’t been reliable with injuries in past. But he is just 27 and has a few years left. I worry that once he hits the decline, it will go fast. I say yes on a two-year deal."
TE Chig Okonkwo
When the Dolphins traded Jonnu Smith to Pittsburgh, fan speculation about Okonkwo to Miami began. Miami quickly traded the Giants for Darren Waller, who didn’t play last season.
Okonkwo hasn’t become the force some imagined when the Titans drafted him out of Maryland in the fourth round of in 2022. He’s drops too many passes and is off rhythm at times. Still, his production in the last two seasons under two different coaching staffs has been solid.
Last year, he was second on the team with 70 targets that produced 52 catches for 479 yards and two scores. That’s more targets than the top tight end on half the Titans' 10 playoff teams and more receptions than the leading tight end on the last three Tennessee playoff teams – Anthony Firkser in 2021 (34) and Jonnu Smith in 2020 (41) and 2019 (35).
But PFF scored him 43rd among tight ends, 11 spots behind Josh Whyle, who also seems to be fading with the team.
The Titans are more of a three-wide team now, and with Gunnar Helm joining the team with a fourth-round draft pick, Okonkwo could be more the second-most looked-to guy at the position in the passing game.
The vibe I pick up is that this staff isn’t in love with Okonkwo.
Under Mike Vrabel a player’s future was definitely determined after three seasons. I would think a guy heading into the final season of his rookie deal has more room now to influence leadership, with Mike Borgonzi about to witness a season first-hand for the first time and everyone seeing how a piece of the offense works with Cam Ward.
Beddingfield's take on another contract: "Chig is an average player and should be treated as such. But unless Helm is the answer, they don’t have his replacement. Whyle is not. Chig can be paid as an average NFL TE. But if he or Hooker wants more money, I would let both walk."
NB Roger McCreary
I’ve liked McCreary as a nickel back. He fits in with the mindset that Dennard Wilson wants on the back end, he’s reliable and has stayed mostly healthy while things have hardly been settled around him. He’s got two interceptions and 15 passes defensed since the Titans pulled a bit of a surprise when they chose him 35th overall in 2022.
The passer rating against him (104.9) was too high for sure last season, but one telling indicator of his progress in Wilson’s defense is that the average depth of target against him dropped from 6.7 in 2023 to 3.1 in 2024.
PFF scores him much better as a run defender than a coverage player.
He’s not a corner who will break the bank with a second contract, but I think if he has a solid year, he’s the kind of guy you’d like to keep to maintain some continuity in the secondary.
Beddingfield's take on another contract: "Even though he is just a solid nickel, he is reliable and plays with toughness and physicality at a position that requires it, and that is hard to find sometimes. He's an average on-the-ball defender in terms of ball skills. The only reason I would say no is based on the development of Marcus Harris. The Titans can’t afford to keep replacing talent at positions that would grade at average or above average. So he needs to be re-signed unless Harris can push for that starting nickel spot."
WR Treylon Burks
Group me with the vast majority of people not expecting him to make the roster coming out of camp.
His skills simply haven’t translated from Arkansas and his injury list is too long.
The Titans don’t have enough high-end guys, but after Calvin Ridley they’ve got a steady veteran in Tyler Lockett, an interesting reclamation project in Van Jefferson and a lot of potential in Chimere Dike, Elic Ayomanor, Bryce Oliver, Xavier Restrepo and returner James Proche plus a reliable guy who’s stuck around for a long time in Mason Kinsey.
There is no second contract conversation to be had about Burks when there is no fourth year of his first contract.