Tag: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

Contract details for Titans WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine revealed

The details of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine’s one-year deal with the Titans.

When it was first reported that the Tennessee Titans were re-signing wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine to a one-year deal, we didn’t have the exact amount he was set to make on the contract.

However, thanks to Over the Cap, we now have that figure. NWI’s one-year deal is worth $2 million which presents a fairly significant raise from the $1.26 million he made in 2023.

It’s important to note, though, that only $750,000 of Westbrook-Ikhine’s deal is fully guaranteed, and ultimately his cap number for 2024 sits at $1.29 million.

That’s certainly a reasonable contract for someone who figures to slot in as a No. 4 receiver, at best, behind a top three of DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley and Treylon Burks.

I wouldn’t say NWI is a lock to make the roster, and his position on the depth chart will depend upon a few factors, like injuries, Kyle Philips’ involvement in the offense and if Tennessee adds more help at the position, whether that be in the 2024 NFL draft, free agency, or both.

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Grade for Titans re-signing WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

How we graded the Titans’ re-signing of WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in free agency.

In what is a testament to what the franchise thinks of him, wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has survived a coaching change and will return to the Tennessee Titans in 2024.

We know it’s a one-year deal, but the financial terms have yet to be revealed. Chances are it’ll be a slight raise from the $1.26 million he made in 2023, which is more than reasonable for the caliber of player he is.

NWI has had no shortage of detractors over the past few years because he seems to always find himself with a bigger role than anticipated, mostly thanks to injuries. That has, in turn, exposed the limitations he has as a receiver, but placing blame on him isn’t warranted.

NWI can’t control the factors that lead to his being thrown into those roles, all he can do is try to answer the bell when it happens, something we have seen him do occasionally during his four years in Nashville.

The reality is, he’s a solid depth piece in the wide receivers room who can block and be a key contributor on special teams, and teams need guys like him.

To be honest, I would have liked to see the Titans add more speed to the back end of their depth chart, but they certainly could do a lot worse than a depth piece like Westbrook-Ikhine, who brings value with the different ways he can contribute.

Grade: B

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13 pending offensive free agents with ties to the Panthers’ coaching staff

Mike Evans, who is set to hit the open market, had his best season in years under new Panthers HC Dave Canales.

With new head coach Dave Canales leading the transition, the Carolina Panthers have completely overhauled their offensive staff this winter. And with new faces comes new connections for the organization.

Here are 13 pending offensive free agents, in areas of particular need, with ties to Canales’ staff:

12 free agents Giants could target based on coaching hires

These 12 free agents could become free agent targets of the New York Giants based on their offseason coaching and coordinator hires.

The New York Giants significantly overhauled their coaching staff this offseason, changing two of their three coordinators while also switching out a multitude of assistant coaches.

Because of those changes, the team will need to readjust their personnel by way of free agency and the 2024 NFL draft in an effort to match talent with the new schemes.

As a reminder, here are the notable coaching changes:

  • Defensive coordinator, Shane Bowen
  • Special teams coordinator, Michael Ghobrial
  • Running backs coach, Joel Thomas
  • Offensive line coach, Carmen Bricillo
  • Tight ends coach, Tim Kelly

These new arrivals create an interesting dynamic headed into free agency. They are intimately familiar with several of the available players and have developed trust with them over the years.

While that doesn’t necessarily mean any or all of them will be signed by the Giants, there is likely to be some crossover.

Here is a look at 12 impending free agents the Giants could target based on the above coaching changes/hires.

Titans camp preview at WR: Locks, competitions, 53-man prediction

In our latest installment of Titans training camp previews, we take a look at the very shaky wide receiver situation.

As we continue to inch closer to training camp, the next installment of our 2023 preview series for the Tennessee Titans comes at wide receiver, a position that has been a hot topic of conversation this offseason.

After having arguably the worst wide receiver corps. in the NFL in 2022, the Titans did basically nothing to address their issue in free agency and the draft. As a result, they’ve found a way to be worse off.

Tennessee rightly parted ways with their lackluster leading receiver from last season, Robert Woods, but only added Chris Moore and seventh-round pick, Colton Dowell, two additions that were hardly adequate for what this team really needed, which was a wide receiver who could make a sizeable, guaranteed impact.

The Titans still have an opportunity to improve the group in a big way with their pursuit of DeAndre Hopkins, but seemingly putting all their eggs in that basket is far too risky.

As we wait for Hopkins to make a decision, we can only preview the guys the Titans currently have on their offseason roster. Here’s a look at who the roster locks and players on the bubble are, as well as a look at the competitions set to take place and a 53-man prediction.

Ranking the WRs in the AFC South entering 2023

From Calvin Ridley to Kyle Philips, here’s a ranking of the WRs in the AFC South entering 2023.

The AFC South isn’t the first division to come to mind when you think of the elite receivers in the NFL.

As far as what it does offer at the position is the return of a player that was on the trajectory to be one of the best in the league, a group that has the potential to be good-to-great receivers that are in the developmental stages of their career, and players that are looking to prove that they are more than being role players that contribute on special teams.

For the purpose of this list, I took the top three receivers from all four team’s depth charts according to Ourlads so you won’t find rookies like Josh Downs and Tank Dell who will likely end up being contributors for their offenses as rookies.

Be sure to check out our other AFC South rankings entering the new season:

Let’s take a look at how the receivers rank across the AFC South:

1 veteran on roster bubble at each position on offense for the Titans

Shaun Calderon takes a look at one veteran from each position group on offense who’s on the roster bubble ahead of training camp.

As we inch closer to training camp with each passing day, the Tennessee Titans still have their fair share of position battles that need to be resolved at a handful of different spots.

While there are a few question marks atop the depth chart, the majority of these battles taking place are set to identify which players will ultimately secure a reserve role for themselves.

Several of these competitions include a veteran player or two who are right on the cusp of the roster bubble.

This article is going to discuss one veteran player at each position group on the offensive side of the ball who could find themselves on the outside looking in come roster cut day.

Some positions have obvious choices to make, while others are worthy of having a real debate. Let’s find out which offensive veterans I think are on the roster bubble heading into camp.

Mike Vrabel almost has more career receiving TDs than Titans’ current WRs combined

Mike Vrabel, who played linebacker, nearly has more career receiving touchdowns than the Titans’ current WR corps. combined.

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As of this writing, the Tennessee Titans have one of the most underwhelming wide receiver units in the NFL. Obviously, that could drastically change if the team is ultimately able to lure All-Pro wideout DeAndre Hopkins to Tennessee over the coming weeks.

An addition of that magnitude would immediately change the perception of the Titans’ receivers room, which is largely inexperienced, to put it mildly.

To give some perspective on how young, inexperienced, and/or unproductive this wide receiver unit as a whole has been, the group that consists of 12 players only has 16 career receiving touchdowns combined.

Chris Moore leads the way with eight touchdown receptions, followed by Nick Westbrook-Ikhine’s seven. Treylon Burks rounds out the total with his one touchdown reception as a rookie.

It should go without saying that 16 touchdown catches between an entire wide receiver room is less than ideal, but that’s even more so the case when you compare that number to Mike Vrabel’s.

Bear in mind, he was a linebacker, but believe it or not that 16 is only four more touchdown receptions than the Titans head coach recorded over the course of his career.

The Patriots Hall of Famer tallied an impressive (for a linebacker) 12 receptions (including playoffs) in the NFL, all of which went for a touchdown.

In all, the Titans have a whopping nine receivers on the 90-man offseason roster who have never caught a touchdown pass in a regular season game. Adding to that, the aforementioned Hopkins has more than quadruple the amount of career receiving touchdowns Tennessee’s corps. has.

For everybody’s sake, let’s hope whichever young wideouts end up making the team can become reliable contributors in 2023.

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Fantasy football preview: Tennessee Titans wide receivers

Is there any utility to be found among this cast of unproven pass catchers?

While there were certainly higher profile teams that failed to meet expectations last year, none of them endured the level of inseason collapse of the Tennessee Titans. The AFC’s No. 1 seed in 2021, the Titans won seven of their first 10 games in 2022 before dropping seven in a row to finish 7-10. At the heart of their struggles was a brutal offense that finished in the bottom five in points, yards, and passing as the quarterback trio of Ryan Tannehill, Malik Willis, and Joshua Dobbs combined to average 171.4 yards per game through the air.

Despite those struggles, Tennessee made few moves to upgrade that part of the offense. In fact, wide receiver Robert Woods, who led the team with 527 yards receiving, is gone, and the only addition of note is 30-year-old WR Chris Moore. The Titans did potentially identify their quarterback of the future in Will Levis, though at this point the plan is to go with Tannehill as QB1 while Levis develops.

As you’d suspect, the passing game was better during the 12 games Tannehill played, averaging 211.3 yards per game, which would’ve ranked 19th in the NFL. Still, this looks like a work in progress, so let’s check out the receiving corps and identify who might hold some fantasy value in 2023.

Titans’ updated WR depth chart after the 2023 NFL draft

A look at the Titans’ updated wide receiver depth chart following the 2023 NFL draft.

The Tennessee Titans shockingly failed to address the wide receiver position in the 2023 NFL draft, and as a result there wasn’t much of a change in the wide receiver depth chart.

Yes, they drafted UT-Martin wideout Colton Dowell in the seventh round and reportedly added some undrafted free-agent wide receivers, but none of those moves qualify as adequately addressing the position.

However, landing in Tennessee was the best-possible scenario for all of those prospects, as they stand to have a better chance at making the cut with this team than they would with any other in the NFL.

All that said, here’s a look at where things stand currently with the group, and at the end of the list we’ll provide some analysis for it.