Nate Washington Successfully Alienated by Titans Trade Talks

Dec 30, 2012; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nate Washington (85) warms up before a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at LP Field. The Titans beat the Jaguars 38-20. Mandatory credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

Nate Washington has been successfully alienated by the Tennessee Titans talks of trading him while in pursuit of former St. Louis Rams receivers Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson.

According to a report from TitansInider, Washington wasn’t happy to hear that the Titans have been shopping him. The same report claims that Washington would prefer to be released, rather than traded. All of that makes sense. Griffin has given this team his all and despite not seeing many balls thrown his way this season, he still led the Titans in receiving with 746 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Here’s his career stats, courtesy of ESPN.com:

Those don’t look like the stats of a receiver that should be cut to me. He was one of the few positives for the Titans this last year.

I don’t know what game the Titans are playing at. Washington hasn’t had catching problems. There’s a reason Titans fan have been known to refer to him as “hands.” He still has great speed. At the age of 29; he’s not an over the hill receiver.

So why are the Titans shopping one of the Titans best receivers? His $4.2 million that counts against the cap is too much for them? That doesn’t seem like that much for a guy who has been their leading receiver the past two seasons. If the Titans are so desperate for cap space, they should look towards their 2nd string QB who is set to make approximately $5 million this next season, as well as their 2nd string offensive lineman Eugene Amano, who is set to make $3.94 million this season.

There are better options for clearing up cap space than removing one of the best receivers Locker has to work with. It may be too late to backpedal from what they’ve done now. The damage is done and Washington isn’t happy.

Do you think the Titans made the wrong move by putting Washington out there for trade? I do.

You can find me on Twitter @JustinLStewart