- Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Arden Key has a lot of money on the line in the Titans' season finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
Key signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Titans this past offseason that included $1 million in contract incentives every season. For recording 8-8.5 sacks in a season, Key earns $500,000. That amount increases to $750,000 for 9-9.5 sacks in a year and $1 million for 10+ sacks.
With two sacks on Sunday, Key will cash in. But a blown call from earlier in the season might end up being the thing that keeps him from getting his pay day.
In the Titans' season opener against the New Orleans Saints, Key got off to a rocking start by recording 1.5 sacks of Saints' QB Derek Carr. But anyone who watched the game will know that Key actually should have had 2.5 sacks on the day.
Key beat left tackle Trevor Penning off the edge and got his hand on the ball as Carr pump faked a throw. Carr then pushed the ball forward with his empty fist, but the officials ruled the play an incomplete pass.
FOX Sports rules analyst Dean Blandino was one of many pundits who sided with the Titans in the aftermath of the game. This should have been a fumble. It also should have been a strip sack for Key.
Not only did that missed call significantly shift the outcome of the game and the start of Tennessee's season, it now may cost Key a large sum of money.
If the Titans' 27-year-old outside linebacker comes up with a sack against his former team on Sunday, the missed call will end up costing him $500,000 in incentives he would have otherwise hit. Even for an NFL veteran, that's a significant amount of money.
When I asked Key how much incentives were on his mind heading into the final game of the season, he indicated to me that he was more worried about hitting a new career high in sacks. Key's career high is 6.5 sacks, recorded last season with Jacksonville Jaguars. He currently has 6 on the 2023 season.
The former Jaguars defender also said it would mean a little built more to set a career high against his former team. Key felt disrespected by Jacksonville with how they handled his free agent negotiations last offseason. That feeling is still lingering and the Titans have a chance to knock Jacksonville out of the playoffs this weekend.
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