SATURDAY, 10:45am: The three-year deal is worth $10.5MM with $5MM in guaranteed money, tweets NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. There’s another $2.25MM worth of incentive money, boosting the potential value to $12.75MM.
FRIDAY, 10:50pm: After spending the last two seasons in Tennessee, defensive tackle Al Woods will continue his career with the Titans in 2016. Woods’ agency, SportTrust Advisors, announced today (via Twitter) that the veteran defender has agreed to terms on a new three-year contract with the Titans.
Woods, who turns 29 later this month, picked up 22 tackles in 14 games (nine starts) for the Titans in 2015. With fellow nose tackle Sammie Lee Hill recovering from a knee injury to open the season, Woods saw most of the playing time at the position, earning 362 defensive snaps to Hill’s 190 for the season. While Pro Football Focus ranked Woods just 88th out of 123 interior defenders, PFF gave him a solid grade as a run defender, and he’s primarily used on early downs.
With a new deal in place to keep him in Tennessee, Woods has a leg up on the Titans’ starting nose tackle job for the 2016 season, at least for the time being. John Glennon of The Tennessean indicated near the end of the 2015 campaign that it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team retain Woods rather than Hill, who is also a free agent.
While financial terms of Woods’ deal aren’t yet known, he’s coming off a two-year, $4MM pact, and I’d expect him to match or exceed that per-year salary. Before agreeing to terms with the Titans, Woods reportedly paid a visit to Seattle to meet with the Seahawks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.