Jake Locker is finished for the season. The Tennessee Titans are still trying to put together the pieces after it was deemed their starting quarterback would be shut down after getting diagnosed with a Lisfranc injury. This comes after the quarterback attempted to return from a severe hip injury. Not only does the injury hurt the remainder of the season for the Titans, but it could hurt Locker's future with the team in general.
Head coach Mike Munchak confirmed Locker will be out for the remainder of the season, leaving Ryan Fitzpatrick to take hold of the offense. The issue now becomes Locker's future with the team. The reality is the quarterback has missed 14 of 32 possible games in the last two years. This is the third time the Titans have been forced to move without Locker since drafting him with the No. 8 pick back in 2011.
Locker is currently under contract through the 2014 season. He will make just over $2 million in that final year. The Titans have an option to extend his contract for 2015, but they will have to make that decision come May of 2014. If Tennessee were to extend that option, under the collective bargaining agreement they will be forced to pay Locker a salary equal to the NFL transition tag. He would make over $13 million in one season. Locker would become one of the 10 highest paid quarterbacks during next season. As a result, Munchak is admitting the Titans will evaluate the situation come the offseason.
"He's the guy we thought would be here for a long time, and that still may work out," Munchak said. "It's just that right now, it's disappointing, last year and this year, that he wasn't able to finish this season and really find out what team we have and what kind of team we could become on offense. I think that's stuff we'll talk about when the season is over and you have to make decisions on the next season, . . . That's a nice February discussion. He is a fighter, and if anyone can come back from another injury, it is going to be him. We are just concentrating on these next seven weeks."
Locker will finish the year with 1,256 yards and eight touchdowns, completing 60.7 percent of his passes. If Fitzpatrick works out at quarterback, the Titans might feel more comfortable moving on from Locker and possibly drafting someone in the quarterback-heavy 2014 draft. It is too early to predict what move the Titans will make, but keeping Locker comes at a big cost.
