The Tennessee Titans did their best to keep working as usual until they had a new general manager on board. Now Mike Reinfeldt has two weeks to keep the team's key players from hitting the free-agent market.

And he must rework a contract for running back Travis Henry to avoid paying an $8 million bonus.

"We have a number of things to do," Reinfeldt said when introduced Tuesday.

Reinfeldt was unavailable Thursday, busy preparing for the NFL Combine that starts Wednesday in Indianapolis and goes through Feb. 27. Free agency begins March 2.

But chief operating officer Steve Underwood, coach Jeff Fisher and Rich Snead, director of player personnel, had stayed in contact with some agents.

The Titans have nine players due to become unrestricted free agents, six to be restricted free agents for which the team will have a chance to match competing offers and three exclusive-rights agents.

But at the top of the priority list will be Henry's contract, after he personally revived the rushing offense last season, and defensive tackle Robaire Smith.

Henry is due an $8 million bonus in March and is under contract through 2009. The Titans want him back but need to rework that bonus into a more friendly,long-term deal even with an estimated $36 million of room under a salary cap of $109 million in 2007.

He ran for 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns, fifth in the AFC and the best season by a Tennessee running back since 2000, when Eddie George had the best year of his career.

"Our desire is to keep him there," said Henry's agent, Hadley Engelhard.

Underwood had stayed in contact with Engelhard during the Titans' five weeks between the resignation of Floyd Reese on Jan. 5 and Reinfeldt's introduction Tuesday. Engelhard is expecting to start talking with Reinfeldt next week and start negotiations for a six-year veteran who turned 28 on Oct. 29. Injuries limited him to 182 combined carries in 2004 and 2005.

"Take away two of the six years; his four-year numbers are up there with the best of them," his agent said.

"I think he brings some stability to the backfield in Nashville and really is going to help Vince Young continue to develop because of his experience. Vince Young can feel comfortable with him behind him, knowing he has someone behind him to run the ball and block and make plays when they need to."

Tennessee's top pending unrestricted free agents include receivers Drew Bennett and Bobby Wade, as well as Smith, who signed for the veteran's minimum last season after the Houston Texans released him just before the season started.

Smith's agent, Michael Harrison, had not heard from Reinfeldt yet as of Thursday but was not worried.

"Fisher and Snead, when I spoke to them, they both expressed they definitely want Robaire back. They think he's a big part of what they're trying to do," Harrison said.

Smith started 12 of 15 games and had 76 tackles in 2006 in one of his best seasons despite being slowed in September by a hamstring injury. Now 29, he was a key part of a line that missed Albert Haynesworth during a five-game suspension and could help anchor a defense needing to improve from last in the NFL.

Harrison said Smith loves Tennessee, but the veteran could be an attractive target on a market where most of the league has lots of money to spend.

"He wants to be here. At the same time, he's got to be paid market value. We've got to try to do the best analysis we can and try to determine what he can get on the open market. We know there's a lot of interest in him," Harrison said.

Bennett led the Titans with 46 catches for 737 yards in his sixth season. He had a base salary of $1.75 million last year and appears ready to test the market. Wade had 33 catches for 461 yards and was second. With a receiver-heavy draft in April, the Titans could let both see what they're worth in March.

The good thing for the Titans is Reinfeldt has a history of being able to work quickly on contracts. When he rejoined the Seattle Seahawks in February 2005 after a year's break, he kept Matt Hasselbeck and Walter Jones off the market with new deals in almost the same amount of time.