Joe Barksdale, one of the few players on PFR’s list of top 50 free agents who remains on the market, has a visit lined up with the Titans, according to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (via Twitter). Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the visit will happen on Thursday.
When I placed Barksdale 36th on our list of 2015’s best free agents, I noted that the lack of reliable, consistent tackles with starting experience made the veteran a potentially attractive option. However, upside has trumped reliability in some cases — Jermey Parnell, who has made just seven career starts, landed a five-year, $32.5MM deal from the Jaguars, while Barksdale is still unsigned.
As our Dallas Robinson observed when he examined Barksdale’s free agent stock, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked the former Ram just 48th out of 84 qualified tackles. However, his +5.6 run-blocking grade placed him just outside the top 10 in that category.
Barksdale’s market may also have been slowed by the fact that he got married and went on his honeymoon within the last few weeks. Now that he’s back and focusing on football, we’ll see if he finds a job quickly, or if interested teams – such as the Titans and Rams – wait until after the draft to try to lock him up.