Reese Believes Titans Better Prepared For Cap Challenge
By Michelle Manson December 22, 2001

(Editors Note: In the second half of his interview with Titans Radio Executive Producer Larry Stone, Titans general manager Floyd Reese discussed pending salary cap issues and the upcoming offseason.)

Titans General Manager Floyd Reese said the spring's coming salary cap challenge should be easier for the team to handle.

'I think we have prepared ourselves a little bit better in that we know pretty much what we're going to have to do to get to the cap,' Reese said in an interview with Titans Radio's Larry Stone. 'There won't be as many surprises, let's say.'

'I think we're pretty well-equipped and have a program in place so we can get down to the number. Then it will be a matter of how much farther are you willing to go...are you willing to renegotiate another five or six contracts to be able to sign some guys? I think those decisions will come a little bit later. I think from the onset we'll be better programmed, in better shape then we have been.'

When asked if he thought center Bruce Matthews would be returning for his season in 2002, Reese said he can't say at this point, but the decision will be up to Matthews.

'I would have said the last four years, 'no', but every year he's come out and played pretty good,' Reese said. 'Bruce is one of those guys we have such admiration and respect for, that if he's not ready to make a decision we won't rush him.'

'We'll see if we can't put something together that will give him time to think about it. We'll give him his time and his decision will be final.'

Reese is also uncertain about the future of safety Blaine Bishop. Injury problems have plagued Bishop for most of this year, which makes the decision to resign him somewhat difficult for Reese.

'Blaine's been very important,' Reese said. 'I think he's probably been called the so-called heart of the defense more than any other player we've had.'

'However, he's gone through some injury problems. He hasn't played as of now in eight weeks or so. It's difficult when you've got a guy that you're really counting on and because of an injury or whatever it is he can't be there. It gets hard and decisions get difficult.'

Along with realignment and the addition of the new Houston Texans in the AFC South for 2002 comes an expansion draft and consequently the loss of a handful of players for each team. Reese does not expect the losses to be significant for the Titans, however.

'We will have an expansion draft,' Reese said. 'Every team in the league will put up five or six players, then they'll have a chance to go through and draft out of that allotment of players.'

'It probably will not have a lot to do with our overall plan. We probably won't lose more than two or three guys. They will be guys that we would probably like to have back, but if we don't have them back it won't be critical.'

Although Reese said that he feels scheduling had a substantial effect on the Titans lack of success this year, he does not think that next year's schedule will have as much of an impact.

'We feel like the schedule has a had a dramatic effect on some of the teams this year,' Reese said. 'Well, next year with the new alignment and the new schedule, it won't have quite the impact.'

'There will be two games that will really be significant. Instead of playing Baltimore and Cincinnati, maybe you'll play Baltimore and Pittsburgh. It's the luck of the draw and not much you can do about it.'

With the 2001 season concluding in three weeks, Reese's first and biggest objective for the new offseason is the 2002 NFL Draft at the end of April. His preparation for the draft has already begun.

'We have just completed the combine meeting where we go into Tulsa and go over every player in the country,' Reese said. 'We're going through now and reviewing some of those players, making sure that we've got a good feel for where everyone is, and making sure we've got a feel for where they are.'

'There will be some bowl games we'll go to, we'll go to the all-star games and come back, catch our breathe a little bit, get back into the pro things, and then hit college hard until April.'