The Saahdiq Charles storyline continues to get more strange by the day. It’s been a week since the 25-year-old abruptly decided to walk away from the game of football.
In turn, the Tennessee Titans were left scrambling to find his replacement on an offensive line that already had question marks going into the season.
The Titans, who will hold joint practices with the Seattle Seahawks this week, met with the media on Tuesday morning.
Offensive line coach Bill Callahan was asked whether he or the coaching staff had any idea that Charles was contemplating retirement.
“No, not at all,” Callahan said via Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. “I was really kind of taken aback, personally. I didn’t know what happened or what occurred. I let (general manager) Ran (Carthon) handle that, but it came out of the blue. We were all—the players and coaches—really kind of surprised.”
Callahan also noted that he attempted to reach out to Charles after he announced his retirement but did not hear back.
Charles signed a one-year contract in free agency after spending the first four years of his career with the Washington Commanders.
The former LSU standout logged 35 games, including 18 starts, in the National Football League, so the Titans were counting on his experience to shore up the right side of the offensive line.
Instead, they had three weeks of a preseason schedule to sort through the options.
Fourth-year player Dillon Radunz emerged as the immediate answer, as he had entered the 2024 NFL season focused on the guard position after moving around the offensive line in his first three seasons.
The 26-year-old logged 14 snaps in the Titans’ 17-13 Week 1 preseason win against the San Francisco 49ers before the first-team offense was pulled.
“I thought his pass pro(tection) is improving,” Callahan said of Radunz. “He’s starting to throw hands, he’s latching handles, and he’s anchoring down. Those facets of his play are improving.”
Tennessee also has Daniel Brunskill, who was the starting right guard last season, Lachavious Simmons, and Andrew Rupcich in competition for the job.
Following their joint practices this week, the Titans and Seahawks will clash at Nissan Stadium this Saturday for their second preseason game.
