Titans first-round draft pick Caleb Farley has third back surgery; will miss rest of season

Adam Schefter is reporting that Tennessee Titans 2021 first-round draft pick Caleb Farley underwent a Microdiscectomy on his back and will miss the remainder of the season. This news isn’t surprising. We knew Farley had an injury to a disc in his back and didn’t expect him back this season. Unfortunately, this makes the third back surgery he has had since he started playing college football. He has also had two ACL surgeries in that time.

This is a tough break for Farley and the Titans. It is also one of the reasons that Jon Robinson is no longer the Titans' general manager. Sure there is a chance that Farley can come back from this and end up being a productive member of the team, but that seems extremely unlikely.

Robinson hit big on an injured Jeffery Simmons in the 2020 draft. He decided to double down on that in the 2021 draft with Farley. The difference of course is that coming back from an ACL injury is completely different - a whole lot easier - than coming back from TWO back surgeries.

There is also the fact that Farley looked completely lost when he has been healthy on the field. Mike Vrabel and his coaching staff benched Farley two different times before the injury and were playing undrafted guys over him.

Farley will enter the 2023 training camp fully on the roster bubble even if he is completely healthy. Cutting Farley would be costly for this team with the way contracts are structured for first-round picks. Here are the cap numbers if they cut him next offseason (via @FWordsPod):