Titans Make Some Moves
The Tennessee Titans wasted little time finding a new right tackle, signing Fred Miller away from the St. Louis Rams on Wednesday less than 48 hours after losing Jon Runyan to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Titans also signed linebacker Randall Godfrey to a five-year contract.
"We basically traded Jon Runyan for Fred Miller and Randall Godfrey," Titans president Jeff Diamond said. "We feel we're a better team for that."
Tennessee had wanted to resign Runyan, but the Eagles made the right tackle the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history with a six-year, $30 million deal on Monday.
The Titans signed Miller, who started every game last season for the Super Bowl champions, for much less than what Runyan cost. Miller signed for the same six years but for $24 million and the chance to earn more through incentives.
The terms of Godfrey's deal were not immediately available.
Runyan had been considered the best free-agent tackle available, but the Titans saw how well Miller played during the Super Bowl. Miller held Jevon Kearse, the NFL's defensive rookie of the year, without a sack during the Rams' 23-16 victory.
That performance more than made up for perhaps the worst game in Miller's career, which also came against the Titans. Miller was penalized six times for false starts last Halloween while facing the speedy Kearse in Nashville.
"So many ironic things have happened this year," Miller said. "This is just another ironic thing here."
Miller, who had planned to visit the New York Giants and hadn't ruled out staying with St. Louis, said fan support was one of the reasons he decided to sign with the Titans.
"It just makes it a fun place to come play football. Tennessee fans are great fans and are probably one of the loudest in the National Football League," Miller said.
Miller started 39 games in four seasons with the Rams, including the last 21. He was part of a line that helped the Rams average 321.5 yards a game and Marshall Fauk gain an NFL-record 2,429 yards from scrimmage.
Godfrey had visited the Jacksonville Jaguars before flying to Nashville. Both teams desperately wanted the linebacker who led the Dallas Cowboys with 143 tackles last season. Godfrey also had six tackles for loss, a sack and an interception and started 54 straight games for Dallas over the last four seasons.
The Jaguars kept calling Godfrey during his two-day visit with the Titans, but Godfrey said he wanted to make a quick decision and end his free agency by signing with the AFC champions.
"It was getting very, very stressful. I'm glad it ended pretty quick. I made the right decision," Godfrey said.
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