The on-again, off-again offseason romance between John Abraham, still without a team for 2013, and the Tennessee Titans, still considering signing the unemployed defensive end, continues without anything really new to tell.

Abraham, 35, the active NFL leader in sacks and 13th on the all-time list, still sees himself as a starter, even though his snap number took a dive last season with the Falcons, which didn’t stop him from getting 10 sacks once again, but it was clear in the playoffs that they weren’t counting on him to carry the load when it came to pass-rushing.

Things are similar with the Titans, who have Derrick Morgan and Kamerion Wimbley as their starting defensive ends, and would like to see Abraham on the team in the role of a third-down guy and nothing more, meaning playing around 25% of the time, and getting paid that way as well.

Mind you, the Falcons cut Abraham who was on a three-year, $16.7 million deal he signed in 2012. He began the offseason with expectations to get paid in around the same way: Not far from $6-7 million a season, but clearly, both the offers he’s gotten and the money given to other veteran pass-rushers around the league (Dwight Freeney, Osi Umenyiora) shows that it’s not a players’ market.

Meanwhile, Abraham and his representatives are asking for a more substantial playing time assessment, something along the lines of being on 60% of the defensive plays, and getting paid accordingly, hoping to get something even better than what Freeney got from the Chargers (2 years, $8.7 million), but that’s unlikely to happen.

For now, they’re just keeping in touch without any sort of advancements and conceding for both sides. Abraham is looking at other teams as well, hoping that between now and the start of the preseason, and injury or two around the league might awaken the market for him.

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