Insider hints Titans could make star safety available for trade

Not much is clear right now regarding Kevin Byard’s future with the Tennessee Titans.

But if you ask ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Titans could entertain trade offers for the star safety who was asked to take a pay cut during the offseason but declined, citing his play hadn’t warranted a lesser salary.

"This is one I'm watching,” Fowler recently said on “SportsCenter,” via Bleacher Report. “We talked about Budda Baker earlier as being available, high-end safety. This is another one where he's not necessarily available via trade that he's being shopped, but something could give with his contract. He's due almost $14M next year. The Titans have been in clear reset mode where they're looking at veterans to potentially shed salary from.

"This is a player who wants to retire in Tennessee, wants to stay there, but he believes he's been playing at a high level for years, which he has been, his play hasn't dropped off. So, he's not eager to take any sort of pay cut. Something has to give, and I do think at the end of the day he would be open to a trade if the Titans wanted to explore it."

Titans general manager Ran Carthon could be flirting with the idea of a rebuild, and jettisoning a player of Byard’s caliber to acquire draft capital would be a clear sign of which direction he’s leaning.

Tennessee has already cut ties with Taylor Lewan, Ben Jones, Zach Cunningham and Robert Woods, and Byard is the second notable Titans player — along with running back Derrick Henry — that has come up in trade fodder this offseason.

Former NFL executive Michael Lombardi suggested in March that the Titans could potentially cut Byard, who carries a $13.6M base salary with a $19.62M cap hit in 2023 if he didn’t lower his cap hit.

Cutting or trading Byard pre-June 1 would save the Titans $5.9M but cost $13.63M in dead money.

A two-time first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler, Byard has two years left on his contract. He’s logged four or more interceptions in five of the last six years, and he’s totaled 63 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in seven seasons.