(on whether or not he has spoken with Chad Speck, the agent for DT Albert Haynesworth)
I haven't talked to him since I've been here, but our plan is to get together with him this weekend and talk.
<(on the difference between making someone the highest defensive player vs. the highest player at his position)
There's probably a long way between those two, but I think at any point in time when you're having conversations, when you're having dialog, you have a chance. You have a number of discussions with agents and as long as you keep a dialog going you can start off far apart, but at some point you get a meeting of the minds.
(on the sense of urgency to get deals done before the start of free agency)
I think it gets more hectic for everybody. You saw that with (Rob) Bironas and Bo (Scaife) and I think the pace picks up here. When you get into free agency, then it really gets wild. I think it's something that behooves the club to get things done. It makes sense.
(on the effect of the economy with signing free agents)
I think the economy affects all of us today. My own feeling on the whole free agency is I I think at some point it hurts the second wave of free agency. I'm not sure it impacts the big players. The door is going to close much quicker. When all the crazy deals are getting done, if before it was two or three weeks, maybe it's a week now. I just think the whole thing shuts down much quicker.
(on why that's the case)
I just think that the money is tighter for clubs and at some point they are much more frugal with their money. I don't think that really impacts the big players that much, the big players being the quality players, the top tier.
(on having a contingency plan in case things don't work out with Haynesworth)
I think you always have backup plans, you always have contingencies. As a club you need to look at ways to invest in players that make you the best possible team. If it doesn't go to one player, you should take that money and get one, two or three players – whatever it might be – to make yourself a better club.
(on importance of signing players during second wave of free agency)
It's kind of normally where we've operated. I think it would behoove us to operate us a little quicker, to speed up. At the same time, it's something we're used to doing. It's an arena that we're comfortable in, so hope that would be to our advantage.
(on if Titans will get involved quicker in the second tier of free agency)
(on the status of re-signing QB Kerry Collins)
Yes, we would like Kerry Collins back. He did a heck of a job for us last year. If something happened and he didn't, we need to protect ourselves, yes. We supposed to meet with his agent this weekend.
(on if Collins would like to return to the Titans)
It's hard to speak for him. I think he's comfortable in Tennessee. I think he likes his teammates, the coach, the city. I would think that we would be willing to pay him whatever anybody else would be willing to pay him, so I think probably more than likely he would come back.
(on the status of Chris Carr)
We're in the process of talking to Chris' guys, so we would like to sign Chris regardless.
(on importance of signing free agents before the start of the draft)
I think with the draft, that impacts it. Things will resolve themselves before the draft. I think veteran players need to be with clubs before the draft. They understand that part of it. I don't think it will slow as much as baseball did, but I think the market will readjust some.
(on the status of the team's unsigned free agents)
Same thing. We've had discussions with those players. The plan is to meet with their agents up here and hopefully find a common ground. I think we got a good start with Rob Bironas and Bo Scaife earlier in the week. Again, there are a number of those guys we would like to bring back and we're in discussions to make that happen.
(on the talent of this year's draft class)
In general, I think it's a talented group. There are some young men in there that really have a great skill-set. There are some wide receivers that are certainly capable of being taken in the first round, a number of them and much more so than last year.
(on if the team would like to upgrade the wide receiver position)
I think it's an area that we can be better at, like other areas on our team. At the same time if you watch us play with defense, running the ball and special teams, it's not necessarily that we need two Pro Bowl wide receivers to be an effective team. It's a position we would like to get better at, but again, if you look at the last couple of years in the draft, we've taken the players that we thought were the best players and I think we'll adhere to that strategy in the future.
(on what positions are of interest heading into the draft)
There are a number of positions that would be of interest to us – obviously the wide receivers and linebackers. There are some really good players at both of those positions. I would hope we're in a position where we can kind of sit back and choose the right guy for us based on his talent, based on his grade and even based on the fit for our system.
(on which direction they might head)
A lot times it depends on our own free agency and if you assume that we get all of our guys back, I think we'd still like to have some playmakers on offense. We need depth on the offensive and defensive lines and at linebacker. Like most teams, we have a lot of needs.
