It’s a sad day for Titans fans. It was announced today that the team was releasing veteran players Taylor Lewan, Randy Bullock, and Robert Woods. Woods was only in Tennessee for one season after being traded from the Rams, but Lewan had been drafted by the Titans in 2014. He spent nine years with the Titans. The sentiment around Lewan being released is definitely stronger than Woods being cut, but it’s a move that Lewan had predicted a few weeks ago on Pardon My Take.
By releasing Woods, Bullock, and Lewan, the Titans free up a substantial amount of cap space. Cutting Lewan clears 14.8 million dollars for 2023 while cutting Woods clears 14.6 million dollars. Bullock frees up just a bit more as his release frees up 2.8 million dollars. This should bring Tennessee into the green cap space wise as they were previously at 20.9 million dollars above the cap.
Woods Is Happy To Be Free
Robert Woods had a pretty unremarkable season in 2022. He was dealt from the Super Bowl champion Rams for a sixth round pick in March of 2022. Woods played in all 17 games catching 53 passes for 527 yards and 2 scores. Just meh. His 527 receiving yards in 2022 was his career low and at 30 years old, his career seems to be sputtering.
Following his release, Woods sent out two tweets highlighting his excitement.
Woods tweeted “Free!” and then “Where should I go?” I guess that some of his frustration was derived from the Titans poor quarterback situation and his lack of production. Woods could go and be a solid wide receiver three on a team in 2023, but nothing more than that.
Bye Bye Bullock
Kickers are tough to come by in the league. Their shelf life is traditionally short and this seems to be the end of the road for the thirty three year old kicker. The journeyman kicker was with the Titans from 2021-2022 and was solid. Last season he went 17-20 on field goals and 100% on extra points. This move appears to be a quick cap space clearing move and the Titans could target a kicker in the draft or free agency for cheap. Of the three releases, this is probably the most tame and uninteresting one.
Lewans Legacy
Here’s the one that hurts. It’s no secret that Lewan’s production has drastically decreased the past few seasons, but his leadership and attitude were integral in shifting the culture in Nashville. This past season he suffered a season ending knee injury and in 2021 he allowed 4 sacks with a PFF grade of 70.9%. In 2020, he suffered a torn ACL in week five and in 2019 Lewan was suspended four games for failing a drug test for a banned substance. While the past few years have been bummers, Lewan was an elite tackle. He appeared in three Pro Bowls and was on the 2014 All-Rookie Team. His best season was 2016 when he allowed only two sacks with a PFF grade of 87.0%.
When the report came out, Lewan sent out a heartfelt tweet to Titans nation.
When Lewan came to Tennessee in 2014, they went 2-14. But as the years progressed, the culture in Tennessee changed and Lewan was a part of that. In his nine seasons, the Titans had six winning seasons and had four playoff appearances. Lewans nasty and tenacious play solidified him as a fan favorite. He always stood up for teammates and was an A+ troll on the field.
Lewan stated a few weeks ago that if the Titans did release him, he’d seriously contemplate retirement. Lewan is the co-host of Barstool Sports podcast Bussin’ With The Boys which is number nine of the sports podcast chart. He co-hosts it with former NFL linebacker Will Compton.
I’m sure Titans fans are grieving the release of Lewan, but in the long run this was the right move to be made. It’s going to be a new era in Nashville and I think Titans fans should be excited for it.