The Tennessee Titans crushed the hearts of a lot of fans on Monday after they traded franchise legend and All-Pro safety Kevin Byard to the Philadelphia Eagles.
In exchange for Byard’s services, Tennessee received picks in the fifth and sixth rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft, along with safety Terrell Edmunds.
Considering the Eagles had multiple picks in those rounds, the Titans will be receiving the highest of each of those selections whenever the draft order is officially solidified.
The real win for Tennessee will come in 2024. Trading Byard will add about $14.1 million more in cap space next year, giving the Titans $99.6 million to work with, per Over The Cap.
That number will likely grow even more when they inevitably make moves in the offseason, such as parting ways with offensive tackle Andre Dillard.
Trading a franchise great like Byard is a tough pill to swallow in the short term, but moving on made sense from a business standpoint and when you consider the fact that the “Mayor of Murfreesboro” probably wasn’t going to be in the long-term plans.
Tennessee now has some much-needed draft capital, along with some extra cap space that can be used to help revamp the roster moving forward.
I would’ve rather gotten better draft compensation for such a franchise staple, but all things considered, this move gets an average grade, mostly for the added flexibility the team now has in 2024.
Grade: C