There's Always Next Year: Tennessee Titans

It's hard to imagine a team more irrelevant than the Tennessee Titans have been over the past half-decade. Since Vince Young's high-profile flameout, this franchise has somehow managed to be the most anonymous team in one of the NFL's least intriguing division.

Since owner Bud Adams passed away in 2013, Tennessee has lacked an ethos. Recently deposed general manager Ruston Webster tried to build his team around a good offensive line and Jake Locker, which… well, he's not the GM anymore. The Titans have won five games in the last two seasons, and haven't been over .500 since 2011. The Jaguars might perennially get bandied about as the league's eventual exiles to London, but at least they get that attention. The Titans are just kind of nowhere. But they'll still be in the NFL next season, so:

Coach and Quarterback Confidence Rating: 4/10

I was so flabbergasted by the Titans keeping Mike Mularkey that I dedicated a whole column to it. Many playoff-bound coordinators are snubbed because NFL teams like to begin their interviews early, but any hiring process that ends with Mike Mularkey as your team's head coach is flawed.

Mularkey has done none of the things for which Titans ownership lauds him. He has head-coaching experience, but none of it is positive. He hasn't developed any good quarterbacks during that time, either, which is a shame, because Marcus Mariota had a promising rookie season and is as close to a bright spot as the franchise has to offer.

It started with a bang, of course—a four-touchdown game against Tampa that had everyone wondering if the Bucs had picked the wrong quarterback. By the end of the season, though, Mariota was doing his best running a tight-end-based offense because his team had zero good healthy wideouts. There was no workhorse running back. The offensive line, despite all those years of investment, was ugly (and it helped get Mariota dinged up often). I don't think it's a stretch to say he had the worst supporting cast of any quarterback this season.

My only real question about Mariota at this point is: Why bet his development on this head coach? Why claim to be promoting continuity while teaching the franchise player a new offense?

Key Offseason Decision: Who goes No. 1?

The Titans have a gift here. New general manager Jon Robinson stumbles into the job with a No. 1 overall pick and a franchise quarterback already in place.

Most of the draft sites or stabs I've seen have pegged them taking Ole Miss left tackle Laremy Tunsil No.1 overall. It fits the basic mock draft template, of Need + Talent = Pick, but the Titans selected a left tackle with their first pick just two years ago in Taylor Lewan. Most NFL teams don't believe in right tackle as a premium position right now. Plus, Tunsil spent most of last year suspended for the audacity of receiving money in college.

If it were me, I'd be planting anonymous rumors about the top quarterbacks in this draft left and right. "Wow, Jared Goff looks like he could be the next Aaron Rodgers!" "Look at this one play out of 30 where Paxton Lynch actually throws a NFL route!" And so on. If the Titans can convince anybody that trading up to No. 1 for one of these quarterbacks is smart, they could kickstart their rebuild.

Or they could just pick Joey Bosa, since they need more pass rush and, in my estimation, he's the best player in this draft. That would work too.

Major Free Agents: TE Craig Stevens, DE Mike Martin, OLB Zach Brown, NT Sammie Lee Hill, NT Al Woods

As you'd expect from a team as bad as the Titans last year, there's not much to pick through here.

Stevens is one of the better blocking tight ends in the league, and might be worth a Scott Chandler-esque contract to someone. Woods was a decent run-stuffer last season. Certainly much better than Hill, anyway.

Martin and Brown both have some post-hype sleeper potential to me. I've always liked Martin, and Brown had an excellent rookie season back before he got hurt every year. Nobody would rely on either of them to come in and solidify a position group, but I think they're both decent cheap gambles.

Cap Situation: $50,694,155—sixth in the NFL

The Titans already lopped off Michael Griffin's contract, saving themselves some cash. The Tennessean reports that defensive end Ropati Pitoitua is on the chopping block, which would save another $3 million in cap space.

The calculus in Tennessee is pretty simple. You keep Mariota, Lewan, Kendall Wright's fifth-year option, and Delanie Walker on offense. The defense has Brian Orakpo and Derrick Morgan pulling their weight. Everyone else who makes money on this roster is a potential cut in my eyes. No NFL team actually needs to owe Harry Douglas a $4.4 million cap number.

The Titans have an uninspiring coaching staff, and after the last two years they're going to need to overpay to bring in talent. There are opportunities here for players who want to resurrect their careers. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if the Titans managed only a whimper in free agency. It's just what they do.