Comparing Tennessee Titans job to other 6 NFL coaching changes — and where it ranks

Nearly a quarter of NFL teams have coaching vacancies to fill this offseason, putting the Tennessee Titans in a competitive market to replace fired coach Mike Vrabel.

Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk dismissed Vrabel on Tuesday, ending his six-year tenure with the franchise. Now the Titans will have to compete against the Carolina Panthers, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Commanders, Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons to find Vrabel's successor.

Different jobs are attractive to different candidates for different reasons. But, speaking broadly, there are certain job openings that have clear advantages over others. As the Titans dip their toes into this year's candidate pool, here's how the Titans' job stacks up against the rest in five key categories.

Strength of offense

Combine where each of these seven teams finished in points per game, total yards per play and per game, rushing yards per play and per game and passing yards per play and per game, and the Titans had the fifth-best offense among the seven teams with vacancies in 2023, behind Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Washington but ahead of Las Vegas and Carolina.

There are big question marks about the Titans' offense heading into 2024, namely whether to bring back running back Derrick Henry in free agency and how to fix one of the league's worst offensive lines. The unit has one big positive with young quarterback Will Levis, but overall this offense will need to be reimagined philosophically and in personnel, a bigger undertaking than some of the other jobs available.

Strength of defense

Combining the same stats defensively, the Titans rank fourth out of seven, ahead of the Chargers, Seahawks and Commanders but behind the Falcons, Panthers and Raiders.

There are plenty of questions about the Titans' defense, almost all relating to returning personnel. Very few of the Titans' starters in the linebacker room and secondary are under contract for 2024, and top pass rusher Denico Autry is a free agent as well. This unit might not need an overhaul, but it might get one anyway.

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Quarterback quality

The Raiders, Falcons and Commanders all have unsettled quarterback situations and could be looking for replacements in the draft or free agency. Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith has an out in his contract that could make things complicated in 2024. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is one of the NFL's best, and clearly the class of this list. That leaves the Titans and Panthers, two teams who broke in rookie franchise quarterbacks in 2023. The big difference was Titans quarterback Will Levis looked a lot better than Panthers No. 1 pick Bryce Young.

Levis is one of the best sales pitches the Titans have. A talented quarterback on a rookie contract is one of the league's most valuable commodities. Herbert's talents are prodigious, but he comes with a salary worth $52.5 million a year. Levis has room to grow as a passer and is cheap enough for the Titans to stay flexible with the rest of their roster.

NFL draft capital

The Titans have the third-highest first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft of any of these six teams at No. 7. That's well within range to grab one of the draft class's top prospects. But beyond that, the Titans' have the second-worst weighted draft capital of any of these teams. Only Carolina, which doesn't have a first-round pick following last year's trade to acquire Young, has fewer valuable assets than the Titans, who are missing their third-round pick following last year's move to acquire Levis.

Salary cap flexibility

The Titans are anticipated to have the second-most salary cap space in NFL this offseason, behind only the Commanders. The Raiders are the only other team in the group that ranks in the top 10 in available money to spend, with the Chargers at the bottom of the group and fourth-worst in the league overall.

Teams can make plenty of moves before the league year ends in March to reorganize their finances, as the Titans did by releasing Taylor Lewan and Bud Dupree last February. But as of now, the Titans have as much financial flexibility as anyone in the league, and a new coach would be able to use that to the kinds of players he wants into the building.

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The verdict

Again, coaches are going to want different things. The Chargers and Falcons are readiest to win now by virtue of their talented rosters and, in the Chargers' case, established quarterback. The Commanders will be the easiest team for a coach to forge a new identity, given the cap space, top-two draft pick and new ownership group.

The Titans fall somewhere in the middle. The coach would be inheriting Levis instead of getting to install his preferred quarterback. But he'd also be inheriting a roster without too many players tied down with long-term contracts that he'd be able to reconstruct using the copious salary cap space.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ranking Tennessee Titans job against other NFL coaching changes