One reason that could explain the Tennessee Titans thriftiness

Championships are not won in free agency, or so the old maxim goes. Still, it is tough to have the new Owner/CEO of the franchise tell the fan base to expect movement in free agency, and then little movement comes. The Titans needs are still pretty much the same give or take a stop gap at tackle and WILB. However, this theory would explain why the Titans haven't made any big moves: the Titans want to extend Jurrell Casey before he hits the open market.

A simple idea that has been suggested for the whole offseason, but what would it take to make such a move. Well, the top-five defensive tackles in the league average around $11 million per year. Two of those (Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy) are still on their lofty rookie contracts from before rookie-scale era. While that may be what Casey is looking at in free agency next year, the Titans may be able to manipulate that number so that it doesn't hurt their cap long term like a certain running back did.

If the Titans offer Casey $12 million up front (which will leave them with $2 million before the Chris Johnson move) then they could over him lower, more incentive-based pay throughout the rest of his contract.

In this way, the Titans could make sure to keep their top talent, and not fall into the pitfalls of bringing in a big name free agent who may or may not pan out.