Report: Titans reach agreement with Kevin Byard on record five-year, $70.5 million extension
Kevin Byard is set to stay in Tennessee for a long, long time.
The All-Pro safety has agreed to a five-year, $70.5 million extension with the Tennessee Titans, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The contract, which reportedly contains $31 million in guarantees, makes Byard the highest-paid safety in NFL history.
Titans and S Kevin Byard reached agreement on a 5-year, $70.5 million agreement that includes $31 million in guarantees, per source. Byard - who has the same agent (@DavidMulugheta) as Landon Collins and Earl Thomas, now is the highest paid safety in NFL history.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 25, 2019
The 25-year-old Byard was set to hit free agency next offseason, where he would have had no shortage of suitors. His contract also comes a few months after the Titans gave his fellow safety Kenny Vaccaro a four-year, $26 million deal.
Kevin Byard was All-Pro in 2017
Selected in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft, Byard quickly blossomed into one of the top defensive backs in the league and a leader on a Titans defense that allowed the third-fewest points in the NFL last year with 18.9.
Byard earned first-team All-Pro honors in the 2017 season, his second in the NFL, after leading the league with eight interceptions, as well as 16 pass deflections and 87 total tackles. He is coming off another strong season with 90 tackles, two sacks and four interceptions.
His contract vaults him ahead of Landon Collins and Earl Thomas, two safeties who signed major deals in free agency this offseason, in the annual salary department. However, Collins did receive more money total and more guarantees with his six-year, $84 million with $45 million in guarantees with the Washington Redskins.
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