The Tennessee Titans lost one of their projected starting offensive linemen Tuesday when the team announced that right guard Saahdiq Charles has decided to retire.
The exact reason behind Charles' abrupt retirement remains unclear, but he has missed multiple practices in a row due to a personal reason. We can only hope everything is OK with the 25-year-old.
Charles was originally signed in free agency to a one-year, $1.5 million deal. At the time, it was thought he was being brought in as depth with a chance to compete.
But Charles appeared to grab the reins at the position during the offseason program, and he was recently listed as the team's starter at right guard on the unofficial depth chart.
As the Titans try to catch their breath from such an unexpected situation, this will open the door for someone else to grab a starting opportunity.
Right now, it looks like that someone is 2021 second-round pick Dillon Radunz, who was listed behind Charles on the team's aforementioned depth chart.
Radunz has played at both guard and tackle over his first three seasons in the NFL, but the new coaching staff determined that it viewed him as a guard earlier this offseason, which led to him competing for the right guard job.
After two lackluster seasons marred by mostly ineffective play and injuries, the North Dakota State product appeared to start turning the corner near the end of 2023, albeit at right tackle. In what is a contract year, Radunz will likely get an opportunity to show he can hang as a starter in this league with Charles gone.
The only semblance of a threat is last year's starter at right guard, Daniel Brunskill, but it remains to be seen if the Titans are interested in deploying him there to challenge Radunz. Brunskill is currently listed as a backup center.
Truth be told, it can't be said for certain if Radunz or Brunskill will be an upgrade over Charles, as we didn't really know what to expect from him in the first place. What we do know is this shakes things up as the Titans inch closer to their preseason opener on Saturday night.
