NFL free agency 2023: Titans Arden Key signing gets A- grade

NFL free agency grades are worth a little more than NFL Draft grades because at least these players have played in the NFL, but it’s hard to say how a signing will work out before you see that player on the field with his new team. So what we will do with that information is dismiss the bad grades the Tennessee Titans get and highlight the good ones. That is what every rational fan does.*

With that being said, Seth Walder of ESPN gave the Titans an A- for the Arden Key signing. It really was a great signing. We haven’t gotten the exact breakdown of Key’s contract yet, but we do know that it is a 3-year deal worth $21 million with $13 million guaranteed. My guess would be that the majority of the guarantees are in the first 2 years. That’s a great price for a guy that can help as a pass rusher.

The Titans do still need to add a pass rusher - most likely in the draft.

Here is what Walder had to say about the signing:

The Titans just landed some serious pass rushing upside. Key didn’t play enough with the Jaguars last season to qualify for our pass rush win rate leaderboard, but if he had, he would have ranked sixth at edge rusher. His 24% pass rush win rate at edge was a tenth of a percentage point ahead of Von Miller. Plus, he had 4.5 sacks.

Now, it’s not a huge sample, and his 2022 win rate was definitely the best of his career, but those are solid numbers. It could be a sign of great things to come. Even though the Titans are seemingly in a rebuild, this is still exactly the kind of bet I’d want to make in free agency.

*Rational fan is pretty much an oxymoron