Titans restructure Matthews' deal to let him stay put if he doesn't retire By JIM WYATT Staff Writer Tennessean Bruce Matthews has given outsiders little reason to believe he'll return for his 20th NFL season. But according to Titans General Manager Floyd Reese, the veteran offensive lineman hasn't ruled it out. Matthews at least has a newly restructured contract, which was completed yesterday. ''In theory we redid it for the same reason that we did any of the other guys, which was to drop his cap number,'' Reese said. ''The unique thing is we just don't know what he is going to do and … if he is going to play, then we need to get his cap number down.'' The Titans saved roughly $2 million against the salary cap. Reese said in the next 24-36 hours, several more deals — restructures and extensions — also will be completed for additional savings. ''You can't just go to [Matthews] and tell him, 'Hey, you have to tell me in the next 24 hours what you are going to do with the rest of your life.' This guy is going to go down as one of the best offensive linemen ever to play the game,'' Reese said. ''So what we thought would be the wisest thing would be to get him in a situation where we could afford to keep him if he decided to play, and then if he didn't decide to play there would be no difference.
OS, this is one time when I can out scoop you I talk to Mike Munchak's father at least once a week. I asked him about Matthews, he says he won't be back. He was in so much pain the last half of the season he doesn't want to go through that again.
I guess it's just a pr stunt to make the Titans look like they have a heart. Thanks for the scoop. os
