The Tennessee Titans have plenty of cap room and, at least to hear them tell it, plenty of young talent.

The two have intersected in a five-year, $43 million contract with $20 million guaranteed, per Adam Schefter.

McCourty was drafted out of Rutgers in 2009 in the sixth round, and his growth curve has been just what the team had hoped. He’s a smart player and a quality leader who has bought into what coach Mike Munchak and defensive coordinator Jerry Gray are selling.

One of my favorite coaching bromides, which you’re sick of if you read here regularly, is that money makes a guy more of what he is.

I think the Titans had seen that with Cortland Finnegan's second contract -- at times the on-field toughness and feistiness spilled over into his personality in ways they didn’t want to endorse -- so they weren’t about to give him a third. He went to St. Louis when he became a free agent after the 2011 season.

They clearly have no such concerns with McCourty.

It seems a smart and sensible investment to me. If he’s what they think he is, it’ll turn out to be a very reasonable price over the life of the deal.