When it comes to analyzing Peter Skoronski's new contract, there are two important things to remember: One, the Tennessee Titans had money to spend. And two, the Titans had to prove they had a reason to spend it sooner or later.
The Titans and Skoronski agreed to a multi-year contract extension on Aug. 7. A source confirmed to The Tennessean that the contract will span four years and be worth up to $100 million, making Skoronski the NFL's highest-paid guard. Which is a little bit wild on the surface.
Skoronski's never made a Pro Bowl or been named to an All-Pro team, even if there are arguments that he was snubbed in 2025. He graded out as the NFL's sixth-best guard last season per Pro Football Focus, behind five players who've combined to make
17 All-Pro teams for whatever it's worth. It's a little bit difficult to justify calling Skoronski "deserving" of the NFL's highest-paid guard mantle, at least on an average annual value basis, but let's reflect on those two points above again.
First, the Titans have money to spend. Prior to the Skoronski extension, the Titans had the second-most available salary cap space in the NFL. What the Titans don't have is all that many massively necessary contracts they'll have to contend with in 2027.
The only other player from Skoronski's draft class who the Titans might even consider extending is running back Tyjae Spears, who won't require top-of-market money to retain. Fellow RB Tony Pollard is a pending free agent too, but he's a back pushing 30, hardly a heavy investment. The closest thing to an imminent deal the Titans could have to contend with is defensive end Jermaine Johnson II, who's never actually played a snap for the Titans but, if he has a big year, could be due an extension before becoming a free agent in March.
Even looking ahead to 2027, the only player set to hit free agency who'd likely command a big contract is LB Cedric Gray, and the NFL's highest-paid inside linebackers make a good bit less than what Skoronski just signed for.
Sure, the Titans have to brace for potential future contract extensions for QB Cam Ward, WR Carnell Tate and OT JC Latham at premium positions, but Latham's got a fifth-year option the Titans can play with and any talk of extension for Ward or Tate is extremely premature.
All this is to say, the Titans are an organization that say they want to build through the draft rather than through free agency. If we take the Titans at their word, that means over the next two years they have a lot of money they want to spend on internal extension candidates, but not a lot of internal extension candidates. If that means overpaying a little bit to reward one of your few homegrown potential superstars, that's justified.
Which all bleeds into the second point: The Titans have to start proving they'll reward their own. Jeffery Simmons got a massive contract, but that felt non-negotiable. He's the best at what he does. Any team would be motivated to get that done. The real case studies are players like TE Chig Okonkwo and CB Roger McCreary, assets who certainly played well enough to earn second contracts in Nashville but were either traded or let walk for the sake of the franchise overhaul.
Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi has indicated a big reason he wanted to keep Simmons around was so younger players in the locker room could see how hard work and development are rewarded. Simmons is a great example of that, but he's just one guy, and an outlier of a guy at that. If the only players the Titans reward with extensions are undeniable All-Pros, the line to strive for is a little unrealistic.
Skoronski, oppositely, is the right height for the bar to be. He's good. He's real good. He's respected in the locker room and he's respected by the league. No one's saying he's Quenton Nelson or Joe Thuney yet, but he's a player who gets better every year, who's always available and who manages to succeed individually despite the team around him not playing all that successfully.
Making a player like that $100 million richer reverberates far more than the Simmons deal can. Try as they might, 95% of NFL players can't reach Simmons' heights. But reaching Skoronski's heights, the heights of being in the conversation rather than driving the conversation is a still-lofty goal that shouldn't feel impossible.
As contract considerations start coming in for Gray, Latham and Johnson, and eventually Ward and Tate, remember that standard and remember how that standard was rewarded.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Peter Skoronski's the NFL's highest-paid guard. Here's why that makes sense for Titans
