After I wrote that blog, left guard Steve Hutchinson opted to retire due to problems with a right knee injury suffered in a 24-10 loss to the Houston Texans on December 2, 2012. Hutchinson also saw his 2010 and 2011 seasons cut short due to injuries. Given that the Titans already had a glaring hole at right guard a move to replace Hutchinson made a ton of sense. Enter Levitre.
As referenced earlier, he started immediately but it safe to say his rookie season was less than noteworthy as he understandably struggled in his transition to the big leagues. According to PFF, he ranked 72 out of all guards. He had 5 penalties, allowed one sack, 9 quarterback hits, and 11 quarterback hurries. The Bills run game was average and Fred Jackson rushed for 1067 yards with a 4.5 YPC.
Fortunately, his next few years were much better as he gradually improved. In 2010, he again played all 16 games but he did miss more snaps at 52 (all in the second game versus Green Bay). He struggled some but overall his play was an awful lot better and he finished 36 among all guards according to PFF. He had 8 penalties, allowed 2 quarterback sacks, 3 quarterback hits, and 13 quarterback hurries. Unfortunately, the run game was nothing special as Fred Jackson rushed for 939 yards with a 4.2 YPC and CJ Spiller rushed for 283 yards with a 3.8 YPC.
Having determined that Levitre is a good player, did the Titans make a good decision with the contract offered him? That's probably debatable but you don't get good players cheaply. Full contract details are unknown, but the deal is a 6 year, $46.8 million with a $10.5 million dollar signing bonus. The deal averages to 7.8 million dollars per year but Jason La Canfora reported on twitter that the first year salary was $13 million, and that the second year was $6.5 million ($19.5 million over the first 2 years) or a $9.75 million average over the first 2 years.
A front loaded deal isn't terrible since the Titans currently have the money, there is a minimum requirement that each team spend 89 percent of the salary cap each year beginning in the 2013 league year, and the signing bonus and first year salary for Levitre will go toward satisfying that requirement.
Moreover, after the first 2 years, the contract value is $16.8 or a $4.2 million average per year. The contract is certainly big but you weren't going to sign one of the best guards on the market for peanuts. Louis Vasquez, the other top rated guard, signed with the Denver Broncos for approximately $6 million per year with $13 million guaranteed.
Did the Titans "overpay" in signing Levitre? Maybe so. If it allows Jake Locker to develop and improves the Titans run game will anyone really care? Probably not.
For those who are interested, here is a link to the Titans salary cap information per spotrac.com.
