Titans to Talk to Free Agent CB Stanford Routt
Free agent cornerback Stanford Routt has visits lined up with the Bills and Titans, but the Cowboys, Vikings and Chiefs have reached out to express interest in the veteran cornerback.
As of now, no official visits have been scheduled with those three clubs.
A native of Austin, Texas who played his college ball at the University of Houston, the 28-year-old Routt spent much of his first five seasons in a reserve role before starting 30 of 32 games over the last two seasons, totaling 104 tackles, six interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, with 28 passes defensed.
The Raiders signed Routt to a three-year, $31 million contract prior to last year’s lockout that included $20 million in guarantees.
WR Kenny Britt Working Hard to Get Ready for 2012
CBS Sports reports that WR Kenny Britt, who was hurt early in the year after he was leaving the AFC in receiving, has been working very hard in rehab, and should be back and ready for training camp.
The Sports Xchange reports that new Titans GM Ruston Webster said WR Kenny Britt, who suffered a torn ACL in September and had surgery in early October, should return in time for training camp in 2012. He said Britt appears to be a fast healer and is ahead of schedule in his recovery. “Kenny has been working hard and he’s coming fast, probably even a little faster than I thought he would. So I’m real happy about that,” he said. “We expect to have him out there for training camp. The good thing about his injury, is there is a good thing, is it happened early, and he’s a very strong young and bounces back very quickly. We’re hoping and planning to have him back for training camp.” Britt is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of the 2012 season, and hopefully he can come into training camp in shape.
Titans Come to Terms with WR Lavelle Hawkins
The Titans have agreed to terms on a contract extension with wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins, a move that will stop him from reaching free agency next month.
The Titans have confirmed the multi-year agreement, though financial details were not disclosed.
A fourth-round pick out of Cal by the Titans in 2008, Hawkins caught 19 passes for 239 yards and zero touchdowns in 29 games over his first three seasons before hauling in 47 passes for 470 yards and his first NFL touchdown in 16 games in 2011.
Hawkins could have been an unrestricted free agent in March.
Titans Agree on Two-Year Deal with OT Mike Otto
The Titans on Thursday agreed to terms on a two-year deal with back-up offensive tackle Mike Otto.
A seventh round draft pick by the Titans in 2007, Otto has played in 41 games during the past five seasons. He started one game in 2011 for an injured David Stewart at right tackle, against TampaBay.
Don’t Expect the Titans to Be Interested in Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning playing with the Titans in 2012? Don’t count on it.
The Titans new GM Ruston Webster says the team is in good hands with the quarterbacks they have.
Webster understands why some Volunteer fans want Peyton Manning to continue his NFL career in the state where he played in college. With Manning’s future in doubt due to neck surgery and a $28 million bonus due from the Colts in March, some fans put together a website and solicited money for billboards in Indianapolis imploring the quarterback to return.
But the Titans tried to downplay the Manning talk Tuesday in a conference call with season-ticket holders as Webster addressed the topic before taking questions. Webster called Manning a great player in the NFL and noted he was under contract with another team.
“We also feel like we’re in good hands,” Webster said.
The Titans signed Matt Hasselbeck to a three-year deal worth more than $20 million last July, and he led them to a 9-7 record. Webster said Hasselbeck brought the Titans through a tough time after losing top receiver Kenny Britt. Hasselbeck threw for 3,571 yards, the most by a Tennessee quarterback since 2002.
Jake Locker played well enough in relief to make the Titans happy they used the eighth pick overall in 2011 on the quarterback. Locker threw for four touchdowns with no interceptions and a 99.4 passer rating coming off the bench in relief of Hasselbeck during the season.
Coach Mike Munchak already has said Hasselbeck and Locker will compete to be the starter in 2012.
“He showed enough during the season to warrant a chance to win the job, and he’ll have a good shot to do that,” Webster said of Locker.
“Very talented player, he brings a lot of excitement to the game, and so we are as excited as you are about seeing him out there. It’ll be a good competition. It won’t just be Matt’s job or anything like that, and Matt knows that. The best man will win.”
Webster said the Titans are in good shape with about $35 million in salary cap space, but he intends to address the offensive line among other positions as they fix a running game ranked 31st in the NFL in 2011. The defensive line and linebacking corps also are due for upgrades after Tennessee had only 28 sacks in 2011.
Nate Kaczor Added to Coaching Staff as Assistant OL Coach
Nate Kaczor has been added to Mike Munchak’s coaching staff as the assistant offensive line coach.
Kaczor replaces Art Valero, whose contract was not renewed. “I really like Nate’s energy and his background,” Munchak said. “He has experience coaching in the NFL, but also brings a ton of experience as an offensive coordinator on the collegiate level and has coached a variety of positions through the years.
“As it relates to Art (Valero), we didn’t renew his contract because he wanted the opportunity to coach a position group and we couldn’t offer him that, so we both agreed to move forward separately.” After 17 seasons coaching at the college level at Utah State, Nebraska-Kearney, Idaho and Louisiana-Monroe, Kaczor has spent the last four seasons as the Jacksonville Jaguars assistant special teams coach.
McGinnis Leaves the Titans to Join Fisher and the Rams
The Titans have lost assistant head coach Dave McGinnis, as he is going to join old pal Jeff Fisher as the Rams new assistant head coach.
The 60-year-old was with the Titans for 8 seasons, 7 of which were with Fisher, and the final one this past year with new coach Mike Munchak. Before joining the Titans, McGinnis coached for the Cardinals from 1996-2003, first as the defensive coordinator before being named head coach midway through the 2000 season.
The Cardinals went 17-40 in three and a half season and he was fired after back-to-back last place finishes in the NFC West.
CB Cortland Finnegan Maintains He’s Not Likely to Come Back in 2012
Cortland Finnegan will hit the open market in 2012, and the CB himself maintains that he doesn’t think he will be with the Titans next year.
“I hope it changes things, but I don’t know,” Finnegan said. “All those guys work closely together. You see all of them — Lake (Dawson), Ruston (Webster) and Mike (Reinfeldt) — together all the time. So I don’t know that a lot will change. Mike Reinfeldt will still be on top of everything.
“I’m discouraged nothing has happened, but I am still in a holding pattern.”
A Pro Bowler in 2008, Finnegan has 473 tackles, six quarterback sacks and 14 interceptions in his 93-game career with the Titans, who selected Finnegan in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft and signed him to a three-year, $15.4 million extension after his first full season as a starter.