Just about everyone on the planet thought the Tennessee Titans would cut left tackle Andre Dillard after a disastrous 2023 campaign, but it appears that may not be the slam dunk we all expected it would be.
In fact, according to Adam Caplan of Pro Football Network, the Titans are expected to keep Dillard around for 2024. And, Caplan adds that if Dillard sticks around, the team could hold a competition at right tackle between Jaelyn Duncan and Nicholas Petit-Frere.
While their plan could change, Tennessee is currently expected to retain veteran LT Andre Dillard, league sources said.
Dillard, who signed a three-year, $29 million deal last March, started 10 games last season for the Titans but was benched for some others. It’s worth noting that $6 million of his $9 million base salary for this season becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the new league year, a league source confirmed. The new league year opens at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
If the Titans stick with Dillard, it would be expected that third-year OT Nicholas Petit-Frere and second-year OT Jaelyn Duncan would compete for the starting RT job. But even so, that wouldn’t preclude Tennessee from drafting a left tackle or adding competition to that position in free agency.
If Dillard is the starting left tackle for Week 1, there might be a mutiny in Tennessee. Keeping him would be much more digestible if the plan is to leave him on the bench as a backup on a reduced salary — and even then I’d have nightmares about the possibility of him getting into an actual game.
After all, he was the worst left tackle in the sport after signing a three-year, $29 million deal, and was so bad that we longed for the days of Dennis Daley.
Just in case you thought there was some hope that Dillard could be fixed by an elite offensive line coach like Bill Callahan, bear in mind that the former first-round pick was once coached by Philadelphia Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, who is equally respected around the NFL.
As for the other part of this report, you can’t talk about an in-house battle at right tackle without mentioning Dillon Radunz as a candidate after the former second-round pick finished the 2023 season strong at the position.
Some believe Radunz is best suited to be a guard, and that may very well be true. However, he should be considered the favorite for the right tackle job if the Titans don’t make a big splash at the position in free agency and don’t plan on moving Radunz to guard.
