Ran Carthon gets real about rumors of previous friction within Titans brass

"That's who I am," Carthon said on 104.5 The Zone. "It is what it is. I always say that you don't have to defend the truth."

Tennessee had strung together six straight winning campaigns prior to the 2022 season. Back-to-back finishes of 7-10 and 6-11 saw frustrations mount and speculation run rampant. Specifically, unfounded rumors around strain in Carthon and Vrabel's relationship, the league's input on Carthon's hire with the Titans and unfounded personal shots about "issues with Carthon's job performance even back to his 49ers days" without specific examples being cited.

The Titans GM stayed silent through it all.

 "I'd be remiss if I didn't say that some of the stuff that I heard, it does get a little irritating," said Carthon. "Knowing that I don't know where it is coming from and, to me, it is completely made up. That's a part of it. I know the best remedy to all that is winning football games. That's where my focus has always been. How can we get better?"

Tennessee has plenty of work to do towards that effort, to be sure. 

Beyond quarterback Will Levis, some of his 2023 draft classmates and defensive staples Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry and Amani Hooker, the Titans talent cupboard is barren. Carthon currently has seven picks (including No. 7 overall) and $78.5 million in effective cap space to get the train back on its tracks. The NFL recently set the 2024 salary cap at $255.4 million, an unprecedented $30 million increase from the season prior.

Titans Salary Cap Room Creates New Challenge

The salary spike complicates the marketplace for a team like Tennessee, welcoming in more bidders who might otherwise have had heavier financial restrictions. 

"I mean, it's a lot of cap space," Carthon said. "I know that's what everyone is talking about, and how much we have, but we have to spend wisely. We don't want to just load up and just go spend money. Again, we're trying to build a long-term, consistent thing, and you can't do that spending all of it out front. We’ve got to be patient. We got to position ourselves that there going to be guys that come free in June and July, like when we got D Hop (DeAndre Hopkins), that we have to have the space for and be able to afford it."

Whatever the strategy, it is clear that this team will be shaped according to Carthon and coach Brian Callahan's new vision for their Titans team.