Alterraun Verner has a lot of things going for him; he is smart, he is having an excellent year, and he is a fan favorite. However, at the end of the day will the Titans fans be able to look at him objectively and fight the urge to break the bank for him?
Verner has played lights-out this year, but at the end of the day he is still just a cornerback and cornerbacks don't win football games. (Well at least not in their second contracts)
Take this list of cornerbacks with base salaries of over $7 million this year. You tell me if you think they are winning their teams games.
Cornerback, Team, Record | 2013 Salary |
Darrelle Revis, TB, 2-8 | $13 million |
Champ Bailey, DEN, 9-1 (played two games this year) | $9.5 million |
Cortland Finnegan, STL, 4-6 | $9 million |
Charles Tillman, CHI, 6-4 (played in eight games) | $7.95 million |
Johnathan Joseph, HOU, 2-8 | $7.5 million |
The cost of a cornerback in this league just doesn't justify their ability to help the team win football games. If the Titans could keep Alterraun Verner for under $6 million (HIGHLY unlikely) then I would be all for it, but if not the team has other places it needs to spend that money (DE/MLB/QB/RB).