Titans safety Kevin Byard made his first appearance of the offseason at the team’s mandatory minicamp this week, but he said on Thursday that his absence earlier in the spring was not due to the team’s request that he take a pay cut.
General Manager Ran Carthon confirmed that Byard declined that request and Byard said on Thursday that he had communicated his plan to work out on his own to the team in advance of those conversations. Byard said that he is focused on playing football only and feels “100 percent” happy about being with the team, so he didn’t “feel the need to clarify anything” about his reaction to the team’s request when it was made or during his press conference.
“I don’t really want to get into my feelings or anything about that, any emotions,” Byard said. “I guarantee you I will not be the last player and I haven’t been the first player [a team has] come to about a pay cut. I let my agent and the organization — obviously, Ran the G.M. — handle those things.”
Byard has not missed a game since joining the Titans as a third-round pick in 2016 and he’s been named an All-Pro twice during his run with the team. Whatever went into the pay cut request, it looks like his tenure will be continuing for at least one more year.
