Scout's take: Where the Titans need to upgrade

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special contributor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans have many options leading into the player acquisition portion of the offseason.  

The top front offices will gauge the differences in free agency and the strength of the draft and use this to their advantage to not overpay for high-priced free agents but acquire younger less expensive players of similar skill.OrakpoMorganEagles

A good balance in the draft and free agency is necessary to replace players that no longer provide the production the team needs.

The Titans only have six draft choices and can’t fill all their needs in the draft. Free agency needs to be used to fill roster spots. With impending free agents like Marcus Mariota, Kevin Byard and Brett Kern they will consume a high price at their respective positions. The team has high salaries at a lot of positions, so it needs to maintain a smart approach this offseason.

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Why moving Jack Conklin to guard has to be in play for the Titans

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans have not made any decisions on what they will do with their offensive line in 2019.

Taylor Lewan will be at left tackle, we know that. Nothing else is written in stone on a line that has been together for three years.

But things need to change.ConklinEagles

For starters, left guard Quinton Spain is heading toward unrestricted free agency. There is no indication of any negotiations going on there, and with free agency opening March 13 odds are good he’ll check the market.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Welcome to our newest feature, "Take a Lap," brought to us by Nashville Baseball Academy.

Each week, I'll meet up with a member of the site at his or her local high school field and we'll take a lap during which he or she can ask me anything. Then, as I get access to the Titans, we'll shift into me convincing one of them to take a lap with me, and I'll do the questioning.

We started off with Adam Perutelli, who I thought had excellent questions.

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Titans should spend big to ensure they have best backup QB situation in the NFL

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The solution to the Titans’ biggest Marcus Mariota problem is simple.

Have the NFL’s best backup quarterback.TyrodTaylor

(Photo courtesy Cleveland Browns)

To get there, in a year where they see Mariota’s salary bump up $13 million to nearly $21 million, they need to spend even more on the position. Blaine Gabbert is scheduled to make $1.5 million and count $2 million against the salary cap.

The Titans need to move on from him and swallow the $500,000 in dead money left from the $1 million bonus he got in 2018.

Then I think they need to target one of four quarterbacks who I think would amount to a significant upgrade behind Mariota, so that when he's hurt they can still win a game like last year's season finale against the Colts.

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YAZOO PODCAST: My worst travel story and the cost of playoff QBs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Members have thrown a lot of really good questions at me this week on our private Facebook page, of which you too, could be a member. 

So in this week's podcast, I answered as many as I could ranging from my worst road-trip nightmare to my most bizarre interaction with someone I covered; from Titans on the radio to how long I will serve on the Hall of Fame selection committee; from the blocking of Titans receivers to the costs of playoff quarterbacks.

PodcastYazooArt

You can find Part 1 on iTunes, here, or directly through the Vokal website, here. Feel free to hook us up with a rating and review on iTunes.

If you're a member of the site, Part 1 and Part 2 are together, and all you have to do is head below the line.

You can find the history of our podcasts right here.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Annually, we see mock drafters giving the Titans players they don’t really need.

Why does this seem to happen so often?

HockensonMock

Pete Prisco is a friend and an excellent analyst in my eyes. He recently gave the Titans Byron Murphy, a cornerback out of Washington, saying he could start right away for a team that needs to cover better in a division with Andrew Luck and Deshaun Watson.

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Safety market getting complicated for Titans with Kenny Vaccaro a free agent, Kevin Byard due an extension

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Eric Reid’s new deal with the Carolina Panther’s screws up the safety market and messes things up for the Titans.

They got Kenny Vaccaro at a discount price in 2018 no doubt – he made $1.08 million, losing out on an additional $18,750 in per game bonuses when he missed three games with an elbow injury.VaccaroBlockWash

But after a very good year, he will be looking for at least what Reid got – a reported three-year, $21.7 million extension with a $7.5 million bonus and $10 million guaranteed.

Blake Beddingfield characterized Vaccaro’s year as “much better” than Reid’s.

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Players the 2019 Titans need to move on from

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Let’s call this "The 2019 Titans’ Plan Week" as we piece together a sketch of what the team should look to do as it heads toward a second season under Mike Vrabel.

We’ll start off with some players the Titans need to part ways with.

MorganBowen

Derrick Morgan is the team’s second-longest tenured player, the first-round draft pick from 2010. It’s not a hard conclusion to draw that with an expiring contract he won’t be back in 2019 and I have good cause beyond that to expect it will be the case. He’s been a good, not great player for the franchise and a high-quality locker-room guy.

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