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Tennessee Titans trade for Reggie Gilbert was great value

By Will Lomas

GREEN BAY, WI - AUGUST 16: Mason Rudolph #2 of the Pittsburgh Steelers is sacked by Kyler Fackrell #51 and Reggie Gilbert #93 of the Green Bay Packers during the second quarter of a preseason game at Lambeau Field on August 16, 2018 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, WI - AUGUST 16: Mason Rudolph #2 of the Pittsburgh Steelers is sacked by Kyler Fackrell #51 and Reggie Gilbert #93 of the Green Bay Packers during the second quarter of a preseason game at Lambeau Field on August 16, 2018 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Why the Tennessee Titans trade just makes so much sense.

Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson has done a great job building a competitive and talented roster in such a short time, and moves like this trade are great examples of how he has done it.

Last night the Titans traded for EDGE Reggie Gilbert who has spent his first three seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

After a year on the practice squad Gilbert had a solid preseason in 2017 and earned a spot on the active roster. He finished with 1 sack in 2017 and then after another leap forward in the 2018 season he made the roster again and had 2.5 sacks in 2018.

That number isn’t huge, but take a look at why his actual impact was a lot closer to the Packers best pass rusher courtesy of Maven Sports:

"Gilbert’s production last season wasn’t quite as dramatic but he was quietly productive. While he had only 2.5 sacks in 16 games, he had 21 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. That was the same number as Fackrell, though Fackrell turned his pressures into 10.5 sacks. Gilbert added 44 tackles. Only Fackrell (51) had more tackles among the outside linebackers. On a per-snap basis, Gilbert’s rate of 11.0 snaps per tackle was better than Fackrell (12.0), Nick Perry (12.1) and Clay Matthews (18.4)."

The thing that was holding Gilbert back wasn’t talent, it was opportunity. Something that would have happened in 2019 too through no fault of his own. After spending big on two EDGEs in the offseason and then drafting an EDGE in the 1st round, playing time was going to be hard to come by.

GM Jon Robinson saw a position loaded with talent and a player with the potential to develop into something more if given the chance so he pounced on him.

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There is no chance that he would have made it all the way to 19th on the waiver wire if he was released. With 5 preseason sacks in his last 5 preseason games and a solid resume as a back up EDGE in the NFL he wouldn’t have made it out of the top-5.

I know people get upset when the Titans don’t have a lot of draft picks even though it doesn’t matter at all, so what is the value of a 7th round pick? Do you know how many of their own 7th round picks the Tennessee Titans currently have on their roster? Zero.

Do you know many of those 7th round picks went on to do something for other teams? 1 in the last decade and that was WR/KR Marc Mariani who was only released because of the toll the leg injury took on him.

The Titans took a borderline worthless pick and turned into a promising prospect with high upside who has shown more than both Derrick Roberson and Kamalei Correa this preseason. Why not roll the dice on a cheap backup that you have no money tied into long term? That is just good business.

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