When the reports first broke, Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard was in paradise.

Byard shed some more light on how he felt after the Titans asked him to take a pay cut earlier this offseason on an appearance on the Bussin' With The Boys podcast hosted by former teammates Will Compton and Taylor Lewan this week. For the first time, Byard admitted he had an emotional reaction to the conversation and that he was blindsided by the request from Titans GM Ran Carthon, particularly because of where he was when the meeting took place and what he expected the conversation to be about.

Though reports of the Titans asking Byard to take a pay cut broke in the middle of March, Byard said the conversation between his agent David Mulugheta and Carthon took place during the NFL combine nearly a month prior. Byard wasn't there; he was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on vacation with his family. Byard says Mulugheta went into that meeting with the intention of locking down a contract extension for Byard but the conversation turned another way.

"When my agent reached out to the team and had a conversation, it was very easy to be emotional because I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a way about it," Byard said. "I was like ‘They asked for what?’ But at the same time you can’t be emotional in business. If you make an emotional decision within business, more than likely it’s going to be bad business. ... It happened. I think we’re in a good place right now."

Byard didn't attend the Titans' voluntary workouts this summer but reported for mandatory minicamp. He gave the same rationales on the podcast for skipping OTAs as he did at minicamp: He started ramping up his offseason workouts earlier this year and didn't want to slow back down with the team and is secure in his knowledge of the Titans' defense heading into his sixth year playing under coach Mike Vrabel.

On the podcast, though, Byard elaborated a little further.

"It’s really about trust," Byard said. "I think Vrabel and the coaching staff understands that this guy will take care of his body. I haven’t missed a game my entire career. They trust and know that this guy isn’t going to come in out of shape. I’m not that type of person. This is the business side of it: My job is to be the best safety for the Tennessee Titans."

The Titans are on summer hiatus until the last week of July, when players report for training camp.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kevin Byard explains feelings after Tennessee Titans pay cut request