The Tennessee Titans are expected to sign Denver Broncos pending free agent center Lloyd Cushenberry, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports first reported on Monday. The deal will not become official until the NFL’s new league year begins on Wednesday.
The Titans will pay Cushenberry $50 million over the next four years with $30 million guaranteed, according to Brad Spielberger of ProFootballFocus.com. That’s much more than Denver can afford.
Cushenberry (6-4, 315 pounds) entered the league as a third-round pick out of LSU in 2020. He started all 16 games in 2020 and 2021 and he began 2022 as the team’s starter before suffering a groin injury eight games into the season.
Cushenberry returned from that injury in 2023 and started all 17 games and had a career year, allowing just one sack, according to Pro Football Focus.
Cushenberry earned just over $4.5 million on his rookie contract with the Broncos from 2020-2023. He’s now set to get a massive raise.
Following Cushenberry’s departure, the Broncos are left with centers Luke Wattenberg, a fifth-round pick in 2022, and Alex Forsyth, a seventh-round pick in 2023. Wattenberg has dressed for 23 games over the last two seasons as a backup swing guard/center. He started one game in 2022. Forsyth was inactive for all 17 games of his rookie season last year, but GM George Paton has said the team views Forsyth as an NFL starter.
Denver will presumably go into training camp this summer with Wattenberg and Forsyth set to compete for the starting center job.
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