After free agency opened in the NFL this week, teams have been scrambling to add players, release players and restructure contracts in order to bolster their rosters while remaining under the league’s salary cap.
One player who was reportedly approached with a new contract was Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard. According to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network, the team asked Byard to take a pay cut.
Byard, however, has no such plans. He has informed the Titans that the ball is in their court to either find cap space elsewhere or send him to a new team.
I’m told Titans all-pro safety Kevin Byard was approached about taking a pay cut recently and coming off 5th season with 4+ INTs in last 6 years he doesn’t intend to take it.
Byard always planned to spend his whole career w/ Titans. But it appears ball is in Titans court.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) March 17, 2023
Byard, a former third-round draft pick who played his college football at Middle Tennessee State, has said he would like to play his entire NFL career in Tennessee. However, he’s not willing to play at a discount in order to make that happen.
Byard racked up 108 tackles and four interceptions in 2022. He was named a first-team All Pro for the second time in his career in 2021 when he had 88 stops and five picks.
Byard has hauled in at least four interceptions in five of the past six seasons, and he’s made more than 80 tackles in all six. He has two seasons remaining on the five-year contract worth more than $70 million that he signed in 2019, and he’s set to carry a cap hit of more than $19.6 million in 2023.
The Titans, who hired a new general manager this offseason in Ran Carthon, have released several high-profile players already this offseason in order to clear cap space, including longtime left tackle Taylor Lewan, wide receiver Robert Woods and linebacker Zach Cunningham.
According to OverTheCap, the Titans are currently about $15.47 million below the NFL’s $224.8 million salary cap for the upcoming season. But clearly, the front office has its eyes on adding some more pieces.
We will continue to keep our eye on that, and what it means for Byard’s future.
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Publish Date:2023-03-18 07:46:20
