Should the Tennessee Titans follow the Ted Sundquist blueprint?

Ted Sundquist is possibly one of the most overlooked and underrated GMs of the past 20 years. His resume looks like a guide on how to build teams through the draft and with trades.

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Maybe the most telling is the trade he made to acquire Champ Bailey in exchange for Clinton Portis. Don’t get me wrong, Portis had a nice career, but Bailey was the face of the Broncos franchise for a decade and at a much more valued position. In retrospect, Sundquist made the call to trade Portis who had just four more good years, in exchange for a player with nine great years in the tank.

I bring all this up because he put together a story today on what exactly he would have done to fix the Tennessee Titans.

I am going to simplify it as much as I can, but if you are going to keep reading this, then you need to read his story. I can’t stress how intriguing and interesting it should be for Titans fans.

Alright, here is my simplified version of his plan.

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His steps

1. Establish his leadership and standards as a GM

2. Meet with the coaches and get his assurances that they are all in for a championship now. No, waiting or rebuilding, every year is a chance to win a title.

3. Identifying the cap situation- which he says is good as the Titans sit around $24 million, additionally the Titans have 20 starters under contract which is second best in the NFL- and identifying which UFA they will bring in for visits.

4. Addressing weaknesses at offensive line, running back, wide receiver, and in the secondary.

5. Identifying and meeting with team leaders and getting support and feedback.

I have to say that after reading his plan, I really hope that Jon Robinson has a very similar opinion on how to salvage this franchise. His notes on the emphasis of leadership and managing his time in the most efficient way in a very clear step by step process is outstanding.

The only thing I would change (and keep in mind that I am not a GM nor have I have been so take this with the smallest grain of salt) is that, I would like to see him discuss more about the process of identifying players to draft.

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I would spend my first month with the coach describing the players that I was clearly against, rather than let them make their case. Barring injury, I believe in a GM or HC coming in and forming their own ideas on players before the possibility of having their friends in the coaching staff defend them.

If you believe a guy can’t play, don’t let someone else talk you into him. If he is really that valuable then he should be a trade asset and you can at least get something in return.

Other than that, I thought the piece was outstanding. It is clear to me that Sundquist deserves a job in a front office somewhere, and I wish it was with Tennessee. Titans fans should hope for a point where the team is so young and successful that he believes that he can help them take the next step as a #2 and that he thinks that will springboard him into another GM job.

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