The Friday Tweetbag: Should the Titans Lock Up Jared Cook?

Welcome to the Friday Tweetbag! As always, you can tweet, email or send your questions to me in the comments section of the articles.

Q:

A: Football isn't like baseball. In baseball, you typically see players get locked up for long-term deals, but it's much more infrequent in football. The injury rates are just too high. The salary cap and the franchise tags mean that you have to keep players cheap while you can because you can always tag them to keep them. The Titans are smart to let their contracts run out. It only takes one injury to ruin a player's value. Teams just can't afford to sign deals much before they have to.

Q:

A: The Colts were 30th in power run situations last year according to Football Outsiders. As recently as 2007, they had the best power run game in football. I'm not convinced that any one back is the solution. Delone Carter was outstanding in second-down situations but poor on third and fourth downs. No one would ever confuse Joseph Addai with a power back, but he was the featured player when Indy led the league. The Colts' selection of Ballard didn't make much sense to me, because he's so similar to Carter.

You don't fix the power run game with running backs but with bigger linemen. Ballard and Carter aren't the answer. Better blocking is.

Q:

A: No, the Colts won't be competitive this year, so it makes little sense to mortgage the future for a mediocre corner. It's more likely that Indy trades players away than brings them in. Draft picks are the most precious rebuilding chip possible. After the season, Indy will be able to be more aggressive, but don't expect fixes to come this season.

Q:

A: Eugene Amano was terrible last year, so Velasco is certainly an option. According to ESPN's Paul Kuharksy, Velasco and Kevin Matthews are the lead options after Amano. The Titans seem content to 'coach up' their existing players rather than bring in new ones on the offensive line.

Amano has to be considered vulnerable based on his performance last year. I wouldn't be surprised at all if a new center emerges out of training camp this year.

Q:

A: Even if Donald Driver gets cut, he's going to be 37 years old.  Only 19 wideouts ever have played at that age. Only seven made it to 30 catches. Five of the seven were Hall of Famers or soon will be.

Kevin Walter is not the best option for the future at wideout for the Texans, but Driver can hardly be considered a solution. The main problem with Walter is diminishing skills because of his age. Driver is even older.