HEADLINES

Tennessee Titans News & Rumors

NFL Staff Updates: Titans, Patriots, Hightower

August 2nd, 2024 at 10:02pm CST by Ely Allen

The Titans announced a number of new hires and promotions within their front office staff recently. While we had already reported on a number of these, there were a few updates that we were not yet aware of.

Dale Thompson has been promoted to assistant director, college scouting. He’s in his 14th year with the team after breaking into the league doing pro scouting for the Seahawks. Mical Johnson earns a promotion to become the pro scouting coordinator. She served most recently as a scouting assistant in Tennessee. Mike Boni will move up to senior national scout in his eighth year with the Titans. He brings 19 years of NFL experience to the position.

Two more scouts earned promotions as former pro scout Brandon Taylor becomes a college scout for the southeast region and Kalan Reed becomes a personnel scout. Once made Mr. Irrelevant by the Titans in 2016, Reed is now making his name in the scouting world.

Here are a few other teams with recent staff updates:

  • The Patriots also made some recent additions and promotions, per their team website. A.J. Richardson and Landon Simpson join the team as new scouting assistants. Both come from the collegiate ranks with Richardson joining from Mizzou and Simpson coming from Miami (FL). Richardson was a personnel scouting assistant for the Tigers after spending a couple years as a receiver trying to make rosters in the NFL. Simpson was the coordinator of player personnel/head coach recruiting analyst for the Hurricanes. They can thank Marquis Dickerson for the open positions after he vacated one of them due to a promotion to pro scout. Dickerson takes the job of Sam Fiorini, who was promoted to assistant director of pro personnel. Patrick Stewart earned a bigger promotion, still. He’ll now serve as director of pro personnel after returning to the team two years ago as a senior personnel advisor. The veteran Patriots scout spent part of the interim time with the Panthers, where he worked his way as high as vice president of player personnel.
  • We had announced that former wide receivers coach Troy Brown was sticking around, as is pass rushing consultant Joe Kim. While neither were included as part of the new staff announcement, they have reportedly been confirmed to be working with the team in skill-development roles, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Lastly, we had previously noted that former linebacker Dont’a Hightower would be working with outside linebackers, but the most recent information indicates that he’ll work with inside ‘backers, instead.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/2/24

August 2nd, 2024 at 6:50pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s minor transactions as we head into the weekend:

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Petit-Frere has been rehabbing back from a medical procedure he underwent on his knee. The third-year lineman will now get an opportunity to enter the team’s position battle at right tackle.

Titans’ Arden Key Facing Six-Game Ban

July 30th, 2024 at 1:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

A day after the news of Denico Autry‘s suspension emerged, another AFC South pass rusher is set to begin the season late. Titans outside linebacker Arden Key is facing a six-game suspension, ESPN.com’s Turron Davenport reports.

Going into his second season with the Titans, Key violated the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. Key started nine games for the Titans last season; he is tied to a three-year, $21MM deal authorized during the 2023 free agency period.

“I don’t have much to comment on it until that comes out from the league,” Titans HC Brian Callahan said, via Davenport. “It’s not something that you want to hear, but we don’t have a choice. We have to go play football with what we have.”

The loss of Autry was set to make Key a more important presence in Tennessee, which was planning to use the well-traveled rusher as a starter opposite Harold Landry. Suddenly, a Titans pass rush that housed Landry, Key, Autry and Jeffery Simmons will enter the season depleted.

Autry led the Titans with 11.5 sacks last season; Landry contributed 10.5 upon returning from an ACL tear. Key added six, finishing third on the team in this department. This suspension would also void Key’s remaining guarantees, though considering no guarantees remain on his deal beyond 2024, this suspension probably does not stand to affect him on this front.

This could lead to the Titans looking into an outside addition, as they are thin on the edge after Autry’s Texans defection. Rashad Weaver, a three-year Titan who started four games in 2022, could step in opposite Landry in a pinch. Seventh-rounder Jaylen Harrell and 2023 UDFA Caleb Murphy represent the other Landry sidekick options outside of Key.

DeAndre Hopkins Addresses Future With Titans

July 28th, 2024 at 10:38am CST by Rory Parks

After the Cardinals released him in May 2023, five-time Pro Bowl wideout DeAndre Hopkins remained unsigned for nearly two months. While he garnered plenty of interest, he later acknowledged that his market did not develop as expected in terms of the value of the offers he received, and he ultimately signed a two-year, $26MM contract with the Titans last July.

Prior to last year’s trade deadline, outside interest in Hopkins was reportedly limited, as he had struggled to make much of an impact in the Ryan Tannehill-piloted offense, and other clubs were reluctant to take on the balance of the receiver’s contract. When big-armed rookie Will Levis took over for Tannehill, Hopkins began to find his footing, and while he still slogged through some underwhelming games from a statistical standpoint, he ultimately finished his first Tennessee campaign with 75 catches for 1,057 yards and seven TDs. His 14.4 yards-per-reception rate was his highest mark since 2017, when he was a First Team All-Pro with the Texans.

It is reasonable to expect an improvement on that showing in 2024, as the Titans have made a concerted effort to support Levis and take pressure off of Hopkins. The club signed Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd this offseason, and while Treylon Burks and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine remain on the roster (for now), they will not be relied on as heavily as they were in 2023 given the quality of the offseason additions. Those maneuvers, along with expected growth from Levis, could help Hopkins land another big-money deal in the near future, even though he turned 32 in June.

If he had his druthers, Hopkins would prefer that his next contract come from the Titans. During his media availability at training camp last week, Hopkins spoke about owner Amy Adams Strunk and the franchise as a while.

“I love Tennessee, and I love what Miss Amy is doing,” Hopkins said (via Jim Wyatt of the team’s official website). “I think this is the happiest I’ve been in any organization, so let that speak for itself. (I like) how Miss Amy runs things. It’s a great place to be. She is putting pieces together to try and win, and it’s exciting.”

It does not sound as if negotiations between player and team have taken place, though there have been some internal discussions among Tennessee decision-makers. 

“He’s one of the guys that’s on our team, and we’ve talked about a number of guys on the team to have those conversations,” GM Ran Carthon said of Hopkins. “And so D Hop knows how we feel about him, and I think that’s a big thing, especially for a veteran at this stage of his career. I think the way he’s shown up here, the way he’s bought into a new staff, kind of shows how he feels about us and what we have going.”

Obviously, those comments do not make it sound as if a new deal is imminent, and Carthon may wait until the 2025 offseason to evaluate Hopkins’ future with the team. Still, it appears that the club has reciprocated, at least to some degree, Hopkins’ interest in extending the relationship.

Due to the void years present in Hopkins’ current contract, the Titans would be saddled with a roughly $6MM dead money charge if they do not re-sign him.

Seahawks Asked S Jamal Adams To Play LB

July 27th, 2024 at 3:23pm CST by Ely Allen

Jamal Adams has been one of the leaders of the safety/linebacker-hybrid movement since being drafted No. 6 overall back in 2017. Still, Adams has been adamant throughout his career that he is a safety. Thanks to an interview clip from ESPN’s Turron Davenport, we received a clue that a request to move to linebacker may have been a factor in Adams’ departure from Seattle.

Early in his career with the Jets, Adams’ numbers reflected those of a strong safety. While consistently being atop the team’s leaders in tackles, he still was very active in coverage, recording two interceptions and 25 passes defensed in his three years with New York. His efforts with the Jets earned him first- and second-team All-Pro honors and two Pro Bowl appearances.

After being traded to Seattle, Adams’ situation changed a bit. While the biggest change saw Adams struggle to stay on the field as he began dealing with annual injury issues, he also saw his role on the defense be tested in different ways. While in New York, Adams did see his time split between the box as a linebacker and as a safety or slot defensive back. In his first season with the Seahawks, though, Adams’ time at safety significantly decreased as he spent most of his time closer to the line in the slot or, mostly, in the box.

The following season, Adams pushed for more time at safety, and for the first time in his career, he played more snaps at safety than in the box or the slot. Unfortunately, that season also returned his worst defensive grade, per Pro Football Focus, up to that point of his career as well as the worst coverage grade of his career. 2022 saw his season lost to a torn quad tendon, then last year, with the arrival of Julian Love, Adams played the lowest snap share at safety in his career, playing almost exclusively close to the line at linebacker or nickel.

Davenport asked the new Titans defender about his departure from Seattle, inquiring whether they officially asked him to change positions. In response, Adams told the media, “Yeah, they did. They definitely did. Obviously, it wasn’t, you know, what I wanted to do, but I wish those guys nothing but the best.”

In Tennessee, Adams projects to serve as the third safety behind Elijah Molden and Amani Hooker, meaning he will likely continue to be used across the defense in a variety of ways. Agreeing to sign with the Titans, though, likely means that the team agreed to keep using him in some capacity at safety. Time will tell if the decision allows him to keep playing the role in which he wishes to play.

AFC South Notes: Henry, Titans, OL, Jaguars, Peters, Colts, DBs, Smith, Texans

July 26th, 2024 at 5:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

As could be expected, Ran Carthon pushed back on the rumor he was overruled on trading Derrick Henry before last year’s deadline. A recent report said the Titans GM had a deal in place to send Henry elsewhere for a fourth-round pick — one with the potential to become a third — only to be denied. It is worth noting Carthon did not have full autonomy in his first year, with Mike Vrabel still in the mix, but does now. The second-year GM did say (via veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky) multiple teams made offers for the two-time rushing champion last year. Carthon said no agreement was ultimately finalized on a trade. The Ravens were closely connected to the perennial 1,000-yard rusher, and the Titans ultimately agreed to move on this offseason — after a memorable Henry on-field farewell address — leading Henry to Baltimore.

Here is the latest from the AFC South:

  • Amid a widespread effort to retain their own talent this offseason, the Colts did not make a notable addition at cornerback. They have low-end investments — seventh-rounder Jaylon Jones, UDFA Dallis Flowers — as the primary contenders to start opposite JuJu Brents, while Kenny Moore mans the slot. The Colts are also preparing for 2022 third-rounder Nick Cross to become a full-time starter at safety alongside Julian Blackmon. GM Chris Ballard said (via The Athletic’s James Boyd) the team could “definitely” make a move to add a veteran DB, but that is not the plan right now. Indianapolis will continue to assess its in-house options before diving into the free agent or trade markets here.
  • Both Brents and right tackle Braden Smith underwent offseason surgery, per Boyd and Fox59’s Mike Chappell. Smith, who is entering his seventh season as Indy’s right tackle, underwent knee surgery this offseason. Brents, a 2023 second-rounder, had cleanup ankle surgery. The Kansas State product missed eight games last season, returning for the Colts’ final four contests after missing the previous six. Smith missed seven games last year. Neither player landed on Indy’s active/PUP list this week.
  • On the subject of offseason procedures, Titans RT hopeful Nicholas Petit-Frere underwent cleanup knee surgery, per ESPN.com’s Turron Davenport. Petit-Frere, who saw a shoulder malady end his 2023 season shortly after he was reinstated from a gambling suspension, remains on Tennessee’s active/PUP list following the knee procedure. The Titans’ primary RT starter in 2022, Petit-Frere is attempting to reclaim his job under new O-line coach Bill Callahan. The former third-rounder may well be favored to do so.
  • Adding Stefon Diggs gives the Texans receiving depth to the point multiple trade candidates may emerge. Still, the team sought some additional help by working out former Eagles contributor Greg Ward, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes. A former Houston Cougars QB, Ward has not played in a regular-season game since 2021 and spent part of last season on Philly’s practice squad.
  • The Jaguars made some notable hires recently, adding longtime Cardinals exec Josh Scobey and recently retired DT Corey Peters to their front office. Both will join the organization as college scouts. Not to be confused with ex-Jacksonville kicker Josh Scobee, Scobey — an ex-NFL running back — spent the past 12 seasons as a Cardinals scout before an offseason separation. He finished his tenure as the team’s director of college scouting. After interviewing with the Titans, Scobey is with the Jags. Peters finished his career with the Jaguars in 2022, joining the team during GM Trent Baalke‘s first season in charge. Peters was with the Cardinals during much of Scobey’s Arizona stay. The Jags also added Mimi Bolden-Morris and Austin Leake as scouting assistants and announced Antonio Robinson‘s elevation to a college scouting post.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/25/24

July 25th, 2024 at 7:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Thursday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Placed on active/PUP list: FB Robert Burns

Carolina Panthers

  • Waived/injured: DT Popo Aumavae

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

  • Cut via injury settlement: WR Jared Wayne

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: WR Griffin Hebert
  • Waived from active/NFI list: T Gottlieb Ayedze

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed: WR Ty Scott
  • Waived: CB Andrew Whitaker
  • Activated from active/NFI list: LB Easton Gibbs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed: TE Sal Cannella

Tennessee Titans

Via this transaction, the Jets are temporarily moving Reddick off their 90-man roster. Unlike placements on the active/PUP or active/NFI lists that are commonplace in July, Reddick is technically out of the mix for the Jets until his holdout ends. The trade acquisition has not shown up at any point since being traded to the Jets in March.

Diggs suffered a torn ACL during a late-September practice. He is not expected to be sidelined past Week 1, but the Cowboys will not have him at practice for a bit.

Levin has been a Titans backup for most of the past six seasons, playing regularly on special teams and starting four games during his career. An interior O-lineman, Levin played the past two seasons on one-year Tennessee deals. This marks yet another chance for Ray, a Broncos first-rounder back in 2015. This agreement comes after Ray worked out for the Titans in May. Ray, 31, spent time with the Bills during the 2023 offseason but has not played in a regular-season NFL game since 2018.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/23/24

July 23rd, 2024 at 8:25pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: OT Julién Davenport

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

  • Reverted to IR: WR Jared Wayne
  • Released from IR: WR Jaxon Janke

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Titans GM Ran Carthon Was Overruled On 2023 Derrick Henry Trade

July 18th, 2024 at 10:56pm CST by Adam La Rose

As expected, Derrick Henry‘s Titans tenure came to an end this spring. The two-time rushing champion signed a deal with the Ravens as part of the flood of running back deals worked out early in free agency.

It came as no surprise that Henry would up in Baltimore considering the connections between the two parties which dated back to the 2023 trade deadline. Even after the deadline passed for his contract to be restructured, the Ravens were named as a team to watch on the trade front. No deal was finalized, but an agreement was in place between Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta and his Tennessee counterpart.

Ran Carthon agreed to a trade price on Henry of a fourth-round pick with the potential to become a third-rounder, Dan Pompei of The Athletic notes (subscription required). He adds, however, that “others in the Titans hierarchy” did not approve of the swap. As a result, Henry finished out the campaign in Tennessee, offering a public, on-field farewell to the organization after the regular season finale.

The news of Carthon being overruled is particularly interesting since he left the door open to a re-signing ahead of free agency. Instead, the Titans were among the teams which moved quickly in adding a different veteran back (Tony Pollard) to pair with Tyjae Spears. That tandem will be tasked with helping second-year quarterback Will Levis develop in his first full season as a starter while Henry begins the second phase of his decorated career.

The 30-year-old took a two-year deal with the Ravens as questions linger with respect to his longevity. Henry’s age is past that at which many high-profile backs begin to slow down, and his massive workload (at least 215 carries in each of the past six seasons) was no doubt a concern for potential free agent suitors. The four-time Pro Bowler will shoulder lead back duties in Baltimore after J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards departed in free agency.

Especially with Keaton Mitchell expected to miss the beginning of the 2024 season, Henry will be counted on early and often with his new team. The former Offensive Player of the Year told Pompei he plans to continue his career for the foreseeable future, with his fitness obviously playing a big role in his ability to do so. He did add, though, that winning a Super Bowl could alter his long-term thinking. Henry’s ability to repeat his Tennessee success in Baltimore will be a key storyline to follow as the 2024 season unfolds.

The NFL’s Eight-Figure Dead Money Hits For 2024

July 18th, 2024 at 10:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL moved into new territory this offseason, with one Broncos decision creating a staggering gap between the most costly dead money hits and No. 2 on the all-time list. Beyond Denver’s Russell Wilson release, other teams are taking on notable dead cap hits in 2024. Here are the players who will account for more than $10MM in dead money on teams’ payrolls this year.

  1. Russell Wilson, QB (Broncos): $53MM
  2. Stefon Diggs, WR (Bills): $31.1MM
  3. Kirk Cousins, QB (Vikings): $28.5MM
  4. Haason Reddick, EDGE (Eagles) $21.52MM
  5. Jamal Adams, S (Seahawks) $20.83MM
  6. J.C. Jackson, CB (Chargers): $20.83MM
  7. David Bakhtiari, T (Packers): $18.15MM
  8. Danielle Hunter, EDGE (Vikings): $14.91MM
  9. Carlton Davis, CB (Buccaneers) $14.1MM
  10. Andrus Peat, OL (Saints): $13.64MM
  11. Kevin Byard, S (Titans): $13.36MM
  12. Mike Williams, WR (Chargers): $12.46MM
  13. Aaron Jones, RB (Packers): $12.36MM
  14. Chandler Jones, EDGE (Raiders): $12.27MM
  15. Mike Evans, WR (Buccaneers): $12.19MM
  16. Keenan Allen, WR (Chargers): $11.62MM
  17. Xavien Howard, CB (Dolphins): $11.41MM
  18. Michael Thomas, WR (Saints): $11.19MM
  19. Laken Tomlinson, G (Jets): $10.74MM
  20. Leonard Williams, DL (Giants): $10.64MM
  21. Arik Armstead, DL (49ers) $10.31MM
  22. Quandre Diggs, S (Seahawks): $10.26MM
  23. Byron Jones, CB (Dolphins): $10.1MM
  24. Maliek Collins, DT (Texans): $10MM

Months after trading for Wilson, the Broncos gave the decorated quarterback a five-year, $245MM extension. While Wilson offered something of a bounce-back effort from a shockingly mediocre 2022, Sean Payton‘s team still opted to designate him as a post-June 1 cut. Wilson’s $37MM injury guarantee, which the Broncos attempted to move in an effort that led to NFLPA involvement but no grievance, would have resulted in comparable dead money in 2025 had he remained on Denver’s roster on Day 5 of the 2024 league year and then been released next year.

The Broncos will receive a small cap credit — due to Wilson’s veteran minimum Steelers deal — in 2025, but the team will take on more than $83MM in total dead money from the release. This shatters the NFL record for dead money, which the Falcons previously held by trading Matt Ryan ($40.5MM), and the contract will remain on Denver’s books through the 2025 season. The Broncos opted to take on more dead money this year than next, separating this post-June 1 cut from most teams’ strategies.

The Bills’ decision to trade Diggs less than two years after giving him a four-year extension broke the non-QB dead money record. Unlike the Wilson matter, Buffalo will take on the Pro Bowl wide receiver’s full dead cap hit this year. Ditto Green Bay, which passed on a Bakhtiari post-June 1 designation. The Chargers will also be rid of the Allen and Williams responsibilities after 2024. The Seahawks also passed on post-June 1 designations with Adams and Diggs.

New Orleans has Thomas set to count more than $9MM in dead money in 2025 as well due to using the June 1 strategy. The Dolphins are still paying out the Jones contract from a 2023 post-June 1 designation, while Howard’s post-June 1 status will create a $15.7MM dead money penalty in 2025.

Void years created the Vikings’ Cousins cap hit. After attempting to negotiate a fourth contract with the veteran quarterback last year, the parties failing to come to terms resulted in void years being added in a restructure. The Falcons came in much higher than the Vikings were willing to go, guarantee-wise, leading Minnesota to a new QB path and significant Cousins dead money.

The Eagles also included three void years on Reddick’s contract, and the Buccaneers will eat some Evans dead money — despite re-signing the 11th-year wide receiver just before free agency — due to a void year-driven trigger before the latest contract was signed.

Load More Posts