Alontae Taylor didn’t quite crack ESPN’s top 10 cornerbacks, but the Titans still came away with a clear signal about what they bought this offseason.
ESPN’s list was built from votes by executives, coaches and scouts around the league, and while no Tennessee Titans cornerback made the cut, Taylor showed up as an honorable mention. That matters for a team that spent last season piecing together a broken cornerback room and watching the position unravel.
The Titans were forced into damage control at cornerback after trading Roger McCreary and Jarvis Brownlee before the deadline. L’Jarius Sneed landed on season-ending IR, and the depth chart quickly turned into a scramble. Jalyn Armour-Davis and Kaiir Elam were among the names asked to hold things together, and the results were exactly what you’d expect.
Mike Borgonzi knew the position had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Sneed was also released from his bloated contract as an injured underperformer, and the Titans responded by bringing in both Taylor and Cor’Dale Flott on big free-agent deals.
Taylor’s contract tells you how strongly Tennessee felt about him: three years, $58 million. That was the third-largest total value the Titans handed out to any free agent, and his $19.3 million average salary ranked second on the team behind only John Franklin-Myers at $21 million.
There’s another reason Taylor’s honorable mention stands out. Of the 10 cornerbacks on ESPN’s list, Trent McDuffie was the only one who changed teams this offseason.
Taylor was one of the few honorable mentions who also moved. In plain terms, that points to Tennessee landing one of the best corners available this summer.
Taylor brings a strong recent résumé with him from New Orleans. Last season, he posted 83 tackles and 11 pass breakups for the Saints. Over four seasons there, the former Tennessee Volunteers standout piled up 293 tackles, 52 pass breakups, seven sacks and four interceptions.
He’s also been used all over the secondary, handling both boundary and nickel duties during his career. The Titans, though, are paying him to settle in as an outside corner. Robert Saleh’s defense has sophomore defender Marcus Harris lined up for the slot, leaving Taylor to handle the outside job.
That’s the assignment now. Tennessee didn’t spend this kind of money for a near miss on a top-10 list. The Titans need Taylor to play like the player ESPN’s voters nearly put among the league’s best in 2026.
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