It was a big weekend for Tennessee Titans fans who want to see the team admit that they need to enter a rebuild.
This next part is going to hurt Titans fans but stick with me. Tennessee is currently at the bottom of the AFC South at 2-4, and there is only one game left on the schedule where they should feel remotely confident that they can walk away with a win.
Despite that, Mike Vrabel isn't going to quit and that is an admirable quality in a head coach. However, if he was looking for any help during the bye week, he certainly didn't get it.
The Jacksonville Jaguars extended their lead in the AFC South from 2 wins to 2.5 wins after the New Orleans Saints fell short on their comeback attempt. Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Colts lost to the Cleveland Browns, but they lost 39-38 which means they scored 35 more points than the Titans did when they played the Browns a few weeks ago.
It seems like the rest of the AFC South has just pulled away from the Tennessee Titans, and anyone who expects the team to make a comeback is either a massive homer or they are giving this team way more credit than they deserve based on what they have done over the last two years.
Instead of focusing on the negatives, let's focus on the positives.
Even though Mike Vrabel doesn't want to tank, he is still losing at an impressive clip. After a weekend full of incredible upsets, there are only two teams in the NFL with fewer wins than the Tennessee Titans (the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals).
Despite Mike Vrabel and Ran Carthon trading away a 2024 third-round pick to move up for Will Levis, the Tennessee Titans could still turn this team around in the offseason with $100 million in cap space and two top-40 picks (with one inside the top-5).
Another positive is that the Tennessee Titans should absolutely be sellers at the trade deadline and even Mike Vrabel should be able to admit that.
Based on reports from Charles Robinson from Yahoo! Sports, Dianna Russini from The Athletic (who is close with Mike Vrabel), and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, here are the five Tennessee Titans with any buzz heading into the trade deadline.
1. Kevin Byard, Safety
There have been rumblings about a potential Kevin Byard cut or trade going back to the offseason, and at this point, both sides might be ready to move on.
Byard has been a leader in the locker room, a star on the field, and he has been a team player when it comes to adjusting his contract. While Mike Vrabel might praise that, he didn't exactly go to bat for him his offseason which led to a reduced contract for the "Mayor of Murfreesboro" and a very public dispute for a team that likes to do their contract talks behind closed doors.
Kevin Byard has had a solid season with no glaring errors, but he just isn't the impact player that people think about when they hear his name. Maybe that is the scheme and he is being asked to be a very vanilla defender, but it isn't doing anyone any favors.
Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, and the San Francisco 49ers seem like good fits for Kevin Byard for a mid-round pick.
2. Derrick Henry, Running Back
There is a lot of buzz around Derrick Henry, but none of it seems to be coming from other teams.
While the public stance is that the Titans don't want to trade Henry, there have been conversations about Henry going back to before the season started. The reality of the situation is that Derrick Henry is only going to appeal to teams that need a better running game, but those teams have to have great offensive lines.
Teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and the Kansas City Chiefs are all interesting landing spots for Derrick Henry.
Tennessee Titans fans balk at the idea of trading Derrick Henry, but the reality of the situation is that Henry probably isn't going to be re-signed by the Titans this offseason. He is going to get to test the free agent market and I doubt he wants to sign on for the rebuild that is coming, so this is just an early goodbye where the Titans get some compensation.
3. Treylon Burks, Wide Receiver
This was only mentioned by Russini in her article, but it is an interesting conversation to have.
I still firmly believe that Burks was worth the 1st round pick and that he has just had bad injury luck. Turf toe, a concussion, and a knee injury (that the Tennessee Titans medical team allowed him to rush back from) have been his issues. None of those are dreaded "soft-tissue" injuries that Mike Vrabel hates.
He has had an explosive reception, explosive run, or a touchdown in 7 of his last 10 games and without his 70-yard catch against the L.A. Chargers this year the Tennessee Titans would be 1-5 with their only win coming against the hobbled Cincinnati Bengals.
If a playoff-caliber team called the Tennessee Titans and offered them a first-round pick then discussions make sense, but otherwise, the Titans are selling low on a young, cost-controlled wide receiver prospect that had a first-round grade by all 32 teams (or nearly all).
4. DeAndre Hopkins, Wide Receiver
Speaking of trades that would hurt the team in the future, Hopkins is someone that teams seem to be calling about.
On one hand, the Tennessee Titans only have Hopkins for the next season and a half, and this team needs young talent. However, if the Tennessee Titans are as terrible as they look right now, they are either going to end up with a highly talented rookie quarterback, left tackle, or wide receiver.
Two of those positions would benefit from having DeAndre Hopkins on the roster (QB and WR), and Hopkins would benefit from the other (LT). Mike Vrabel loves Hopkins and he was the best offseason signing that Vrabel made this offseason, so I don't think he is motivated to trade him at the deadline.
If they were to move him, it absolutely has to be for a Day 2 pick. Eating his cap hit and then letting a better team make him look great for the next year and a half for a Day 3 pick would be embarrassing for Mike Vrabel and Ran Carthon.
5. Mike Vrabel, Head Coach
Alright, this one is tongue-in-cheek, but after Charles Robinson discussed the idea on Robby and Rexrode on 102.5 in Nashville I had to bring it up.
In case you missed it, you should absolutely click the link above and go check it out. The short version is that there is some talk about trading coaches right now around the league, and Jared Stillman threw out the idea that he would consider trading Vrabel if the Patriots called.
When Robinson was asked about it, he said that teams would be lining up to trade for Mike Vrabel, even to the point where good teams would fire their head coach just for the chance to trade for Mike Vrabel.
He even went a step further to suggest that the Titans could get two 1st-round picks for Mike Vrabel if there were real discussions being had.
Unfortunately, there hasn't been any trade buzz about guys like Denico Autry or Teair Tart, so I picked Mike Vrabel to round out this list. Partially to lighten the mood because it can get pretty depressing thinking about a rebuild, and partially because...could you imagine if the Tennessee Titans got embarrassed by the Atlanta Falcons this weekend? At home. In the debut of the Houston Oilers throwbacks.
Amy Adams Strunk likes Mike Vrabel, but she hates being embarrassed, and if Robert Kraft called her up that Monday morning willing to take on his contract and to give the franchise two first-round picks, maybe Ran Carthon goes full Sith mode and pulls the Mike Vrabel power move. By Halloween, Ran Carthon has full control of the Tennessee Titans with two top-10 picks and the coaching hire of his choice.
Again, it won't happen but since it is out there it is a fun thing to daydream about for Tennessee Titans fans that want a change.