The Tennessee Titans’ offseason just got a little more interesting — and potentially explosive — on Friday when news broke that safety Kevin Byard declined to take a pay cut, leaving the two sides “at a crossroads.”
According to multiple reports, the Titans have approached Byard about taking less money, but the All-Pro safety declined, with him rightly believing his play doesn’t warrant one.
There was an earlier report from ESPN’s Jared Stillman that said Byard has requested his release from the team, but ESPN’s Turron Davenport shot that down, saying the 29-year-old has not asked to be let go.
Prior to Stillman’s report, former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi stated that not only would the Titans ask Byard to take a pay cut, but they’d release him if he declined. There’s been no further reporting on that specific front, though.
Regardless, the situation remains one to watch closely, as now the Titans have to decide if they are simply going to keep Byard at his current salary, restructure him to lower his cap hit in 2023 but push his money to future years, or trade or release him.
While it remains to be seen what will happen there, the support for Byard is overwhelming, both in terms of him not taking a pay cut and it being a bad idea for the Titans to potentially let him go.
He’s still one of the best safeties in the league! Hasn’t lost a step and still playing at an extremely high level!
I would hate to see @KevinByard in a different uniform https://t.co/zXEDo9aGv7
— Jason McCourty (@JasonMcCourty) March 17, 2023
That said… he’s about to turn 30 before the start of the 2023 season, they just paid another safety pretty decent money, and if they’re in the roster reset mode I think they might be, it would make *some* sense to trade him while he’s still near peak value.
— Mike Herndon (@MikeHerndonNFL) March 17, 2023
I haven’t heard anything about KB asking to be released, for the record. But from Titans’ perspective, it would make zero sense to cut Kevin Byard. ~$6M in cap savings (pre June 1) no way justifies all that you lose in his elite production, leadership and availability. https://t.co/QyWnz2VyLb
— Ben Arthur (@benyarthur) March 17, 2023
#Titans fans should not be worried the team is going to cut Kevin Byard. $6M in savings isn’t close to worth it for the lost dead cap (more than double the…
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