Titans should make trade offers to Falcons, Bengals and Giants right now

Titans need to call Falcons, Bengals, and Giants.

The Tennessee Titans are undefeated and the Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, and New York Giants are a combined 1-14.

This is obviously great for the Titans and it means the end of the road for the other three teams who should already have all the mock draft sites saved in their favorites right now.

While all of our attention was on whether or not the Titans would play any time soon, we all failed to properly react to what is going on with this roster as it battles COVID-19. Right now this is a list of every receiver that the Titans have either on the practice squad or on the active roster with the proper reaction you should be having when you see them listed in terms of depth chart order:

–A.J. Brown (great, but he is banged up)

–Kalif Raymond (wait, we are already at Raymond)

–Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (excuse me?)

–Cody Hollister (oh, I remember him, he is the guy from preseason back when preseason existed)

–Chester Rogers (isn’t he on the Colts?)

Excluding A.J. Brown, in the last two years those four receivers combined for 30 receptions, 480 yards, and 3 touchdowns.

If you compare the changes in the depth chart (basically swapping out Corey Davis and Adam Humphries for Cody Hollister and Chester Rodgers) this is how drastic the difference is between the starters and the reserves over the last two seasons:

110 receptions for 1,317 yards and 6 touchdowns

vs

18 receptions for 192 yards and 1 touchdown

I can keep going, but the point is that the Titans should be desperate for wide receivers. You know who should be desperate for draft picks? You guessed it, the Falcons, Giants, and Bengals.

Giants trade proposal

I have talked about Golden Tate until I am blue in the face at this point. Let me hit on the high points of why it makes too much sense for the Giants to trade Tate and move on.

First of all, the Giants offense is already moving on without Golden Tate as a featured option. Despite being the most highly decorated receiver on that roster, he trails behind Darius Slayton and Evan Engram in targets.

If you think that is telling, wait until you hear that Dion Lewis has been targetted 16 times this season by the Giants QB, and Golden Tate has only been targetted 23 times. This offense isn’t even treating him like a quality WR3 and they wouldn’t miss him if he was gone.

Secondly, the money makes sense because the Giants have to be thinking about this as a long term investment. Eat some of the salary now and then use the cap controlled pick you receive to help surround future QB Trevor Lawrence with talent.

Finally, if you are worried that Tate doesn’t have it anymore just look at what he did in 2019 and remember that he is currently the most sure-handed target on that Giants roster which is a huge plus for a team that needs depth with a very high floor.

The Titans should consider trading a 4th round pick to the Giants for Tate and a 6th round pick if New York is willing to eat some of that cap space. Tate still has years on his contract and would be a very nice WR3/4 ahead of Kalif Raymond and Cam Batson but just behind A.J. Brown, Adam Humphries, and Corey Davis/a high draft pick if they decide to go that way.

Bengals trade proposal

You might not have seen it yet, but the Bengals and A.J. Green have to part ways soon. Despite being a great pro for a long time and dealing with a lot of terrible management and coaching, A.J. Green is fed up.

At this point, it isn’t even reading between the lines he visibly doesn’t want to be there anymore.

And that isn’t the end of it. If you really need proof, you can go on Twitter and search “A.J. Green just trade me” or check this video out where you can see him talking to someone on the bench and it definitely looks like he is saying “if they aren’t going to throw it to me, then just trade me.” to whoever he is talking to.

I don’t know how much A.J. Green has left in the tank and five games into the season, he only has 14 catches for 119 yards.

The reasons for the Bengals to trade one of their best players is obvious, but it might be harder for Titans fans to understand why they should trade for a 32-year old receiver who isn’t putting out great tape.

I will say that I think this could be a huge boom or bust move. A.J. Green isn’t bad at football, but he can’t be the focal point of an offense right now. The Bengals have an offensive line that is destroying their passing game and that is funneling a lot of the targets to running backs, slot receivers, and tight ends.

For the Titans, I imagine he would be used as a boundary receiver and it would give the Titans the options to play Corey Davis or A.J. Brown in the slot without losing a size advantage on the outside.

Both Brown and Davis are quietly exceptional in the slot and if that worked out well they could play around with more four-wide receiver sets for the first time in Titans history with Brown and Humphries on the inside and Green and Davis on the outside.

Let’s say the Titans make this move for their compensatory 3rd round pick, before you say that is too much remember these two things. First, the alternative is to try to use Cam Batson or Kalif Raymond in that spot. Secondly, if he does well then it increases your chances of landing a compensatory pick in 2022.

Falcons trade proposal

This is the big one. I want to ask you a question before I talk about this: Who is the Atlanta Falcons WR1 heading into this offseason?

You might be quick to say Julio Jones but take a step back. Look at how Jones and Calvin Ridley have compared the last two seasons:

Julio Jones: 114 receptions, 1,607 yards, 14.1 yards per reception, 6 TDs

Calvin Ridley: 92 receptions, 1,351 yards, 14.7 yards per reception, 11 TDs

Julio is getting more volume, but Ridley has been more efficient when targetted and he has been nearly twice as productive scoring touchdowns.

I’m not saying that Julio isn’t good, but we all need to see what is going on in Atlanta right now. The Falcons are facing an opportunity to get a new head coach and GM after cleaning the house.

More from Titan Sized

• Tennessee Titans suspiciously quiet about major draft need
• Tennessee Titans agree to new deal with star Jeffery Simmons
• Caesars Promo Code Expires Soon – Claim $1,250 Today
• 3 needs that are being overblown by Tennessee Titans fans
• Tennessee Titans have potential dilemmas in 2023 NFL Draft

Jones is scheduled to make 13% of the cap next year and have a $23 million cap hit at 32 years old. He has missed more time in the last 21 games than he did in the 90 games before that.

The building blocks of that offense for the next three years are most likely going to be Matt Ryan, Calvin Ridley, and Jake Matthews who are still going to be in their prime. If you are a GM or HC, you have to come into this situation knowing that you have two or three years to perform or show improvement.

Atlanta is going to $23 million over the cap next season and this is an easy fix for that problem and it immediately takes a major decision off of the plate of the next GM. And yes, you do lose Julio Jones and that is going to hurt, but Falcons fans, owners, and coaches need to look to Julio’s classmate A.J. Green and see how things are going there before they die on this hill.

Now that we know why the Falcons would trade him, let’s talk about why the Titans would want him.

It is no secret that A.J. Brown is a huge fan of Julio Jones and he has been going back to his days in high school watching Julio Jones at Alabama. If there is any receiver in the NFL who Brown would defer his alpha status to, it is Jones.

Jones has been banged up, but there is no doubt that he is productive between the 20s, and over the last two years he has the 4th most yards in the NFL behind Michael Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, and Amari Cooper. Pretty good company.

Having A.J. Brown and Julio Jones under contract for through 2023 and 2024 respectively, give the Titans the breathing room to focus purely on defense in this next draft because the only starters they are projected to lose in free agency are Jonnu Smith and Corey Davis (and they would tag Smith before letting him walk).

It also helps that Jones had his only two All-Pro seasons in 2015 and 2016 when Kyle Shanahan was the OC and the Falcons were using a similar offense to what the Titans run now.

The fit makes sense, the short and long-term needs are there, and the only question the Titans should have is, “how much would it cost?”

Can the Falcons stomach cutting his contract in half for a 1st round pick that helps get them under the cap in 2021 and helps add talent to a roster that is still really good?

And can the Titans stomach trading for that contract and losing a first-round pick? Is Jon Robinson willing to make a massive move like that if it helps the team now and long term?