The Definitive Blueprint to Tennessee Titans' Perfect Offseason

The Tennessee Titans made the right decision in firing Mike Munchak, as reported by ESPN's Chris Mortensen. As much as it irks me to say it about a guy who's been nothing but loyal to his team, staff and players, he wasn't the right guy for the job.

Now, the Titans are looking at an offseason with a long list of tasks to accomplish. This time, they need to go about things the right way if they want the Titans to turn from a perennial mediocre group into a team that competes for the playoffs year in and year out.

Here is my blueprint for the perfect Titans offseason.

1. Hire a New Coach

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Obviously, the first step toward 2014 is hiring Munchak's replacement. Bill O'Brien would have been the absolute perfect hire, but since the Houston Texans snagged him already, the Titans will have to look elsewhere.

One of the first names I'd look at would be current New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. Under Fewell, the Giants have consistently fielded one of the better defenses in the league and have always had a fierce pass rush.

He's also been a part of a Super Bowl-winning staff and has connections to Tennessee. He was the defensive backs coach for Vanderbilt for three years and spent his last year on the staff as assistant head coach.

Another name which should be high on the Titans' list is current San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Roman followed Harbaugh from Stanford to the NFL, and his offense has been consistently great for his whole tenure.

It also doesn't hurt that he coached Andrew Luck in college, since the Titans will have to face Luck twice a year for the next decade.

Other names which could be considered are Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Dallas Cowboys special teams coach Rich Bisaccia, per Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean, and Baylor head coach Art Briles.

2. Make Some Big Cuts

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As I've said before, Chris Johnson needs to be cut. Recently, he gave the Titans another reason to fire him by saying he wouldn't consider a pay cut, per Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean.

There is also speculation about Titans right tackle David Stewart. As great a right tackle as he is, his last couple of seasons have been marred by injury, and cutting him would free up an additional $6.4 million in cap space. It also doesn't help his case that he'll be 32 by next season and this year's crop of tackle prospects is very talented and deep.

Kamerion Wimbley is another player that, while useful, isn't economical to keep on. He did produce three sacks in limited playing time, but he's also not a great scheme fit and on the wrong side of 30. He's scheduled to make $5 million in 2014.

Just for the sake of argument, cutting Johnson, Wimbley, Stewart, Craig Stevens and Patrick Bailey would free up $15.2 million in cap space. You can sign some pretty big names with that.

If the Titans get drastic and cut Michael Griffin, they can bring in an additional $2.6 million.

3. Retain Some Assistant Coaches

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The new head coach in Tennessee will want to bring in his own staff, but it'd be a good idea to keep on some of the coaches the players are familiar with.

Specifically, defensive line coach Tracy Rocker has gotten nothing but good results from the Titans front four for his whole career. Even when the defense was struggling in 2012, Rocker still managed to get great performances from rookie Mike Martin, an injured Jurrell Casey and a great year from Derrick Morgan.

Receivers coach Shawn Jefferson would be another great retention. Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter look like emerging stars, and he's used them very effectively so far.

When you keep around some of the staff that the team is familiar with, it can ease the transition to a new scheme under a new boss. Keeping more than one or two of the coaches is probably wishful thinking, but I hope whoever is coaching in 2014 tries their best to try to keep these two.

Gregg Williams would be another fantastic coach to keep on. He's turned the Titans defense into a tough one, and he would be a great defensive coordinator.

4. Trade Jake Locker

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New regimes mean new quarterbacks. With a strong class of quarterback prospects (more on that later), it's close to a safe bet that whoever comes in to replace Munchak will have no intention of starting Jake Locker.

While Locker made huge strides in 2013, he continued to show a penchant for getting injured and missing a lot of time. Even Peyton Manning can't win games if he's not on the field.

Furthermore, the Titans are going to have a lot of holes on the roster in 2014 and don't have the draft picks to fill them all, especially if they use the first pick on a quarterback. Locker has some trade value since the Titans would eat a lot of his salary in any trade agreement.

Picking up a third- or fourth-rounder to make up for the third-round pick they lost in 2013 would be a great start to next year's draft. It'd also be nice to give Locker a chance to go somewhere where he could seriously compete for the starting job.

5. Retain Bernard Pollard

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A recent addition to the Titans who has made a big splash is Bernard Pollard. The strong safety position had been one of weakness on the Titans for years, and it was nice to finally have a player who could fill that role.

He signed a one-year, $2 million contract in 2013, and he played well. Over the season, he led the team in tackles while also coming away with three interceptions, 10 defended passes and 0.5 sacks.

He also brought a vocal, veteran presence to an otherwise young group of defensive backs. He got a lot of penalties, many of them undeserved, but he also made a lot of plays.

Given that he signed a low paying, one-year deal with the Titans, I think there's something he likes about Tennessee. He could have gotten more money with other teams, so it's not unreasonable to think that he won't require a ton of money.

If the Titans can feasibly re-sign him, they should.

6. Draft Brett Hundley in the First Round

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Right now, the top quarterback prospects who have declared for the draft are Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel and Derek Carr. Blake Bortles is likely to declare after a BCS bowl win and a great game against Baylor.

If Hundley declares, which he very well might after he had a big game as well, he's one of the quarterbacks who could fall to the Titans at No. 11.

Unfortunately for the Titans, there are a lot of quarterback-needy teams that pick in front of them, but with so many solid quarterback prospects, at least one or two of the five will be available when the Titans pick.

Bridgewater is almost a shoo-in for the first overall pick, but after that, every big board is different. I think Bortles is likely the second quarterback off the board, but after that, it's anyone's guess as to who is favored between Carr, Manziel and Hundley.

Personally, I like Hundley. He reminds me of Locker as a prospect, but he doesn't have the injury history that Locker did, and he was more accurate in college than Locker was.

If a team doesn't snag him before the Titans pick, then the Titans need to pull the trigger on him. Of course, if he is gone, or the Titans decide to keep on Locker...

7. Trade Down in the Draft

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The Titans don't have a third-rounder this year. They traded it to the 49ers to move up for Justin Hunter. If they could trade away Locker, then the problem is solved, but there's no guarantee that they'll be able to do that.

Luckily for the Titans, three of their big needs have particularly deep draft classes this year. The offensive tackle, inside linebacker and defensive end classes of 2014 are fantastic. With players like Jadeveon Clowney, Jake Matthews and C.J. Mosley all looking like early picks, the Titans could get quality starters at these positions in the second and third rounds.

Since they only have two picks in the first three rounds, then they're unlikely to fill all those holes unless they can scrounge up some more draft picks. Trades have gone down like crazy since the new rookie wage scale was installed, so the Titans should have an easy time trading down.

It'd be incredibly helpful to be able to pick up extra picks and still land an excellent prospect, like Missouri's Kony Ealy or Notre Dame's Stephon Tuitt. If the Titans are smart, they ought to be able to do that.

8. Be Smart in the Draft

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One thing the Titans haven't been great with is their use of positional value in the draft. A perfect example was the ill-advised picking of a right guard with a top-10 selection.

As I said in the last slide, I think the Titans should use their first selection on UCLA's Hundley, should he declare. But whoever they draft, they need to be smart about it when and where they take them.

In the second round, with a very deep offensive tackle class, the Titans can grab a tackle who would normally be a first-rounder to take David Stewart's place and eventually Michael Roos' in the long term.

With their next two picks, a defensive end and a running back would make up for the losses of Ropati Pitoitua and Chris Johnson. Running backs can be grabbed in the middle rounds and work effectively. With Shonn Greene already in place, the Titans could spend a mid-rounder on someone like Charles Sims.

Ruston Webster will probably control this year's draft, so hopefully he won't make some of the same mistakes he's made in the past.

9. Extend Jurrell Casey

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Casey is getting close to the end of his contract. Since he's a fantastic player with a lot of years left in him, it might be good to lock him up long term right now.

Under the rookie wage scale, he only earned in 2013, which makes him one of the best bang-for-your-buck players on the team. Now as great as it would be to keep him for super cheap until his rookie contract runs out, that'd probably mean losing him in free agency.

One more year like the one he had in 2013, and he's going to command a huge paycheck when he does hit free agency.

A way to prevent that is to go ahead and sign him long term now. If the Titans make the cuts they need to make, they'll have it in the budget, especially since the next year, when he'd still be under his rookie deal, it'd be easy to still sign him for very cheap.

After all, a raise of any kind is better than no raise, isn't it?