The Tennessee Titans have a boatload of needs to address when free agency unofficially begins on March 13 with the legal tampering period, and officially on March 15, the start of the new league year.
While most of the attention has rightly been on the offense, the Titans are staring down the barrel of having to replace both of their 2022 starting linebackers, Zach Cunningham and David Long.
Cunningham has already been cut, and Long will hit the open market at 4 p.m. ET next Wednesday. As of now, there hasn’t been any indication that Long will be re-signed before then.
As far as in-house options go, 2021 third-round pick Monty Rice is first in line to start, but there’s no telling how he’ll be in a starting role with a fairly small sample size to go off of.
Behind Rice, we have guys like Jack Gibbens and Chance Campbell, both of whom aren’t certain to make the roster in 2023, let alone be starters on it.
Even if Long is brought back, the Titans may still be on the lookout for a linebacker, and likely one who specializes in coverage, something Long is still trying to improve at.
With their uncertainty at the position, here’s a look at the list of linebackers Tennessee will be able to target if they look to free agency to fill the void, whether that be at a starting or backup spot, or both.
List of free agents and estimated market values are courtesy of Spotrac, while grades come via Pro Football Focus.
David Long
Overall: 76.2
Pass-rush: 80.1
Run defense: 89.0
Coverage: 62.9
Bobby Wagner
Overall: 90.7
Pass-rush: 79.6
Run defense: 91.1
Coverage: 77.9
Previous contract: 5 years, $50 million
Lavonte David
Overall: 84.1
Pass-rush: 65.5
Run defense: 73.5
Coverage: 88.5
Estimated market value: 1 year, $9.7 million
Tremaine Edmunds
Overall: 79.0
Pass-rush: 69.7
Run defense: 56.5
Coverage: 88.1
T.J. Edwards
Overall: 84.8
Pass-rush: 81.0
Run defense: 83.4
Coverage: 79.7
Devin Bush
2022 PFF grades (17 games, 14 starts)
Overall: 58.8
Pass-rush: 66.9
Run defense: 56.4
Coverage: 58.6
Estimated market value: 1 year, $3 million
Anthony Walker Jr.
Overall: 82.7
Pass-rush: 55.1
Run defense: 56.2
Coverage: 90.0
Deion Jones
2022 PFF grades (11 games, 5 starts)
Overall: 48.3
Pass-rush: 68.6
Run defense: 39.0
Coverage: 54.4
Rashaan Evans
Overall: 59.6
Pass-rush: 66.5
Run defense: 62.5
Coverage: 55.9
Nicholas Morrow
Overall: 54.0
Pass-rush: 54.2
Run defense: 46.8
Coverage: 61.3
Kyzir White
2022 PFF grades (17 games, 8 starts)
Overall: 65.0
Pass-rush: 63.6
Run defense: 63.9
Coverage: 63.2
Elandon Roberts
Overall: 57.1
Pass-rush: 90.1
Run defense: 68.5
Coverage: 43.1
Germaine Pratt
Overall: 80.6
Pass-rush: 73.2
Run defense: 64.5
Coverage: 90.1
Bobby Okereke
2022 PFF grades (17 games, 16 starts)
Overall: 73.3
Pass-rush: 48.5
Run defense: 79.3
Coverage: 67.4
Drue Tranquill
2022 PFF grades (17 games, 16 starts)
Overall: 66.5
Pass-rush: 76.4
Run defense: 48.8
Coverage: 76.7
Denzel Perryman
2022 PFF grades (12 games, 11 starts)
Overall: 74.2
Pass-rush: 65.7
Run defense: 80.5
Coverage: 61.4
Eric Kendricks
Overall: 61.1
Pass-rush: 61.0
Run defense: 81.1
Coverage: 46.4
Azeez Al-Shaair
2022 PFF grades (12 games, 9 starts)
Overall: 67.8
Pass-rush: 83.0
Run defense: 79.7
Coverage: 53.6
Anthony Barr
2022 PFF grades (14 games, 10 starts)
Overall: 59.7
Pass-rush: 63.9
Run defense: 61.6
Coverage: 57.1
Cory Littleton
2022 PFF grades (15 games, 7 starts)
Overall: 72.2
Pass-rush: 64.4
Run defense: 70.0
Coverage: 67.8
Robert Spillane
2022 PFF grades (16 games, 5 starts)
Overall: 52.5
Pass-rush: 54.5
Run defense: 77.3
Coverage: 39.5
Kyle Van Noy
2022 PFF grades (17 games, 13 starts)
Overall: 63.4
Pass-rush: 60.6
Run defense: 62.3
Coverage: N/A
Kwon Alexander
2022 PFF grades (17 games, 12 starts)
Overall: 63.0
Pass-rush: 73.6
Run defense: 63.6
Coverage: 58.5
Alex Anzalone
Overall: 59.2
Pass-rush: 65.2
Run defense: 58.5
Coverage: 58.9
Leighton Vander Esch
Overall: 70.8
Pass-rush: 54.4
Run defense: 61.7
Coverage: 75.6
Chris Board
2022 PFF grades (17 games, 1 start)
Overall: 64.4
Pass-rush: 71.4
Run defense: 64.5
Coverage: 58.6
Malik Reed
2022 PFF grades (14 games, 2 starts)
Overall: 63.8
Pass-rush: 50.9
Run defense: 72.1
Coverage: N/A
Tyler Matakevich
2022 PFF grades (16 games, 0 starts)
Overall: 76.0
Pass-rush: N/A
Run defense: 60.0
Coverage: 60.0
Neville Hewitt
2022 PFF grades (14 games, 0 starts)
Overall: 67,3
Pass-rush: N/A
Run defense: 79.0
Coverage: 49.0
Jayon Brown
2022 PFF grades (8 games, 6 starts)
Overall: 40.2
Pass-rush: 46.6
Run defense: 30.0
Coverage: 53.0
Raekwon McMillan
2022 PFF grades (16 games, 1 start)
Overall: 42.7
Pass-rush: 66.3
Run defense: 48.4
Coverage: 41.9
Jonathan Bostic
2022 PFF grades (15 games, 5 starts)
Overall: 49.4
Pass-rush: 50.6
Run defense: 49.8
Coverage: 53.4
