Tennessee Titans News & Rumors

DL Denico Autry Drawing Trade Interest; Titans Open To Moving Derrick Henry?

Although Denico Autry is in his age-33 season and operates as a sidekick of sorts on a Titans front seven anchored by Jeffery Simmons and Harold Landry, trade interest has emerged. With Autry in a contract year, teams are monitoring him as a deadline buy.

The 10th-year defensive lineman has become a hot name of sorts ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline, Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post notes. Should the Titans be prepared to unload the experienced pass rusher, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler adds this would be an interesting market.

During a period in which the Titans missed on a few pass rushers — Bud Dupree, Jadeveon Clowney, Vic Beasley, Cameron Wake — since-ousted GM Jon Robinson did well to land Autry, who has been a central component on Tennessee’s defense despite moving toward his mid-30s. Autry signed a three-year, $21.5MM deal ahead of his age-31 season, with the contract coming during the same week in which the Titans overpaid Dupree. But Autry helped compensate for that miss, totaling 17 sacks and 37 quarterback hits between the 2021 and ’22 seasons. Thus far this year, the versatile D-lineman has four sacks and nine QB hits.

Autry is tied to a $6.75MM base salary, giving other teams a price tag barely north of $3MM to pick up in the event of a post-Week 8 trade. A former Raiders UDFA who has been a late-bloomer, Autry has done his best work in the AFC South. A midcareer Colts stay drove up his market in 2021, and he has not slowed down with the Titans. Earning another midlevel contract in 2024 will likely be on the table for Autry, but the issue now will be if the Titans like an offer enough to move on early.

Tennessee traded Kevin Byard to Philadelphia on Monday, a move that will likely prompt teams to investigate if the 2-4 club will be willing to deal away more parts. Ryan Tannehill‘s expected Week 8 absence will lead to the strange setup of Will Levis and Malik Willis each playing — perhaps alternating series, per Mike Vrabel — against the Falcons. That may be by design to showcase Willis, with Fowler adding the second-year QB is more likely to be dealt than Tannehill. The latter’s injury makes it fairly certain he will stay in Tennessee for the season’s remainder, but with the 35-year-old passer on an expiring contract, the Titans will have big questions to answer at the position soon. Considering Willis’ early-career form, the Titans will not recoup anything close to the No. 86 overall pick they invested last year.

Derrick Henry joins Tannehill and Autry on an expiring deal. The Titans reupped Tannehill and Henry during the 2020 offseason, tagging and then extending Henry in July of that year. The dominant running back came up loosely in trade rumors before the draft, but a report last week indicated the team was more likely to stick with the potential Hall of Famer. But Fowler views Henry as a player the Titans would likely consider trading, adding that some league personnel believed the team was open to doing so this offseason.

The two-time rushing champion received a raise for the 2022 season, but he remains attached to the four-year, $50MM extension he signed three summers ago. Henry, 29, is playing on a $10.5MM salary. With more than $5.5MM due between Weeks 9 and 18, the Titans would stand to run into an issue in an effort to unload one of their all-time greats. Execs around the league believe this will be an impediment to the point Tennessee would likely need to pick up some salary to move on, Fowler adds, and it is far from certain the team would be willing to do that in order to cut ties with a three-time Pro Bowler.

The Titans have third-round pick Tyjae Spears in place once Henry departs, and while teams do not make a habit of re-signing workhorse backs ahead of age-30 seasons, it is not a lock the parties do not discuss a third contract before free agency. For now, however, Henry is playing out a contract year and looms as a fringe trade candidate for a team in transition.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/25/23

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves from around the league:

Baltimore Ravens

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Seattle Seahawks

  • Designated to return from IR: RB Kenny McIntosh
  • Designated to return from PUP: NT Austin Faoliu

Tennessee Titans

After being waived yesterday by the team who submitted a waiver claim for him at the start of the season, Wallace finds himself on the third NFL team of his career. While the trade that sent star Titans’ defender Kevin Byard to Philadelphia returned another safety in Terrell Edmunds, Wallace will come in and attempt to compete for some key playing time with Edmunds and Amani Hooker.

Humphrey has been promoted as a standard gameday elevation three times already, the limit for a practice squad contract, so in order to see any further game action, he needed to be on the active roster. If he is released and re-signs to the team’s practice squad, he’ll be able to be elevated three more times under a new practice squad deal.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/25/23

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: LB Donavan Mutin

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/24/23

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Released: CB Quavian White

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Titans, Eagles Agree To Kevin Byard Trade

The Eagles have made a signficant addition to their secondary. Philadelphia has agreed to a trade which will see them acquire safety Kevin Byard from the Titans, as first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports that fellow safety Terrell Edmunds, along with 2024 fifth- and sixth-round picks will be headed back to Tennessee. The Eagles have long been named as a candidate to make an addition in the secondary – particularly at the safety spot – and now that has taken place. The move marks an end to Byard’s seven-plus year run in Nashville.

With that said, this move will represent a homecoming for the Philadelphia native. Byard’s time with the Titans appeared to be on shaky ground in the offseason, with new general manager Ran Carthon approaching him (unsuccessfully) about agreeing to a pay cut. In spite of that, the 30-year-old made it clear he was not looking to be moved out of Tennessee. He ultimately agreed to a restructured contract, a move which lowered his base salary to $4MM this season.

Given the ease which which his 2023 earnings could be absorbed – along with the fact no guaranteed money is in place in 2024, the final year of his deal – Byard represented an attractive trade chip. He was recently reported to be the subject of interest from teams, but doubts remained regarding the compensation Tennessee could fetch in return. Instead of seeing Byard potentially become a cap casualty in the offseason, the Titans will now receive a pair of Day 3 picks along with a short-term replacement in Edmunds, who signed a one-year deal this offseason.

The picks exchanged here will be the Eagles’ highest pick in the 2024 fifth and sixth rounds, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones tweets. Both are conditional selections, per GOPHNX.com’s Howard Balzer. It is unknown at this point what conditions are included here, but this will bring an end to an eight-season partnership between Byard and the Titans.

Byard earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro acclaim in 2017 and ’21, and he has remained productive across his time in Nashville. He has recorded multiple interceptions every full year since his rookie campaign, and eclipsed 100 tackles twice. His ball production and coverage marks have taken a step back this year, but he will be joining a more talented defense upon arrival with the Eagles, a team which has lost a number of key members of its secondary since their Super Bowl appearance.

That included the free agent departure of both Marcus Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Philadelphia has been in search of a true replacement for the latter’s playmaking in particular early in the season. Byard will have the chance to take on a starting role alongside Reed Blankenship (when healthy) in the team’s new-look safety arrangement. Their performances when paired together will go a long way in determining the secondary’s success, especially given the season-ending injury suffered by slot corner Avonte Maddox.

The Eagles entered today with roughly $4.3MM in cap space, so this move will likely be the most notable one the reigning NFC champions can afford. Still, it proves the team’s all-in approach as they look to go one step further than they did last year. From Tennessee’s perspective, meanwhile, this move will invite questions about Carthon and Co. being willing to part with other veterans. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill and running back Derrick Henry are not believed to be on the block, but at 2-4 it would not come as no surprise if the Titans were to act as sellers in other moves ahead of the October 31 deadline.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/23/23

Here are Monday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:

Dallas Cowboys

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

Tennessee Titans

Titans Unlikely To Trade Derrick Henry, DeAndre Hopkins

The Titans are currently 2-4 and may be without starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill for their last contest before the October 31 trade deadline (they have a bye this week and face the Falcons on October 29). They clearly profile as potential deadline sellers, but head coach Mike Vrabel is not throwing in the towel on the 2023 season, per Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports.

As such, Tennessee is not motivated to trade star running back Derrick Henry, as Robinson reports. While there is obvious concern about how many carries Henry has accumulated over the past few years, the two-time rushing leader has trade value. He still has some burst and is maintaing a solid 4.3 yards-per-carry average this season, and it is fair to expect that he will remain productive for the rest of the campaign.

Dianna Russini of The Athletic, though, has not found a team with much interest in Henry (subscription required). Perhaps that is because of his high usage rate and the fact that he is less than three months away from his 30th birthday, or perhaps it is simply because rival execs do not believe the Titans will seriously consider trading the longtime focal point of their offense. In any event, it presently appears likely that Henry will stay in Nashville through at least the end of the current season.

Likewise, it seems that wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins will stay put. Robinson has spoken to a few receiver-needy clubs, and he does not get the sense that Tennessee will be able to get much of a return in a Hopkins trade. The three-time First Team All-Pro made plenty of PFR headlines during his free agency stint this year, though he later conceded that his market did not develop as he expected after he was released by the Cardinals in May. He ultimately joined the Titans on a two-year, $26MM deal, and it does not sound as if other clubs are anxious to take on the balance of that contract. Through six games in 2023, Hopkins has 27 catches on 47 targets for 376 yards. He has yet to find the endzone.

As opposed to his veteran teammates on the offensive side of the ball, safety Kevin Byard is receiving trade interest, per Russini. However, Robinson does not believe Byard would fetch anything more than a late-round pick, and assuming that’s the case, the Titans would be better served by keeping him in the fold.

Wideout Treylon Burks, a 2022 first-round pick who was supposed to help replace A.J. Brown‘s production, has also been the subject of trade inquiries, as Russini writes. Unsurprisingly, the Titans are not inclined to move any young player, let alone a player who was taken on Day 1 of the draft just one year ago.

Titans Bracing For Ryan Tannehill Absence

Two Titans quarterbacks are in development behind Ryan Tannehill. After the organization has attempted to back-burner the training of Malik Willis and Will Levis, one of the two will likely need to start when the team comes off its bye in Week 8.

The Titans are bracing to be without Tannehill due to the high ankle sprain he suffered Sunday in London, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes. Tannehill injured the same right ankle on which he underwent surgery. The 12th-year quarterback suffered multiple injuries to this ankle last season, the first costing him midseason time and the second leading to the season-ending procedure.

Tannehill’s latest injury is not believed to be as serious as the one that shut down the five-year Titans starter, per Fowler, though a multi-game absence is in play. But Mike Vrabel compared it to the malady that sidelined his starter in October 2022. Even with the Titans in their bye week, it appears likely Tannehill will not be ready to go after an extra stretch of rest.

Tennessee moved Willis into its lineup against Baltimore. While the 2022 third-round pick completed four of five passes, much his 80 yards came on a Tyjae Spears catch-and-run. The Liberty alum took four sacks in two drives against the Ravens. Willis looked incredibly raw when called upon as a rookie, almost definitely costing the Titans a win in Kansas City and then seeing the team use Josh Dobbs to close out the season despite the latter being signed off the Lions’ practice squad days before. Levis has not taken any regular-season snaps, with Willis having beaten out the second-round pick for the QB2 job during the preseason.

The Titans are giving each young QB extra work during the bye week, per Jim Wyatt of the team website. Developing two QBs has introduced an interesting dynamic, one pass-game coordinator Charles London called “unusual.” Vrabel was present when the Titans stopped Willis’ slide last year, while GM Ran Carthon had no hand in the Willis pick. Carthon engineered a trade-up for Levis at No. 34 — coming after steady buzz the Titans would trade up in Round 1 for a Tannehill heir apparent. Once the Texans chose C.J. Stroud at No. 2 overall, the Titans were believed to have ended their effort to climb up the board in Round 1.

Tannehill’s four-year, $118MM contract expires at season’s end, making a midseason audition from one or both of the backups pertinent to the team’s future. The Titans were believed to have dangled their starter in trades before the draft, and it is no secret the former top-10 pick’s Titans future is cloudy as a lame duck. Tannehill, 35, will need to bounce back upon return from this injury to solidify a 2024 free agent market. Although injuries led Tannehill out of Miami, he stayed healthy from 2019-21 to lead Tennessee to three playoff berths. But ankle trouble has intervened regularly over the past year.

With Tennessee at 2-4 and likely needing to start one of its unseasoned reserves, the prospect of a late-season audition — along the lines of what the Falcons provided Desmond Ridder last year — could be in play should the team drift off the contention radar. The Titans have qualified for the playoffs or been in that mix since 2017, but they made several cost-cutting moves this offseason — a few of which coming on the offensive line. Should losses pile up, the retooling team will face decisions at the trade deadline (regarding non-QB pieces) and down the stretch (at quarterback).

QB Updates: Tannehill, Lawrence, Garoppolo

Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who left Tottenham Hotspur Stadium yesterday on crutches, has reportedly suffered a high ankle sprain on his right leg, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. This type of injury routinely requires a decent amount of recovery time, putting his status for the team’s next game in doubt, but with a bye week between now and then, it’s not a guarantee that he will be unavailable the next time Tennessee takes the field.

Head coach Mike Vrabel relayed to the media that this injury looks similar to Tannehill’s injury last year, going on to specify that he was referencing the first ankle injury Tannehill suffered earlier in the season and not the one later on that would require surgery, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport. Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com reported further comments from Vrabel stating that, if healthy, Tannehill would still be the team’s starting quarterback.

Here are a few other injury updates to passers in the AFC:

  • On a short week, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence‘s status for this week’s Thursday Night Football trip to New Orleans is in question. According to Ian Rapoport, after he injured his knee in last week’s win over the Colts, MRIs revealed a slight knee sprain that could threaten Lawrence’s availability. Lawrence wouldn’t normally need to practice much in a short week anyway, but while nursing a knee sprain, they’ll likely only test his knee out to determine his status for this week’s contest. Backup quarterback C.J. Beathard would step in if Lawrence isn’t able to go.
  • After sending quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the hospital mid-game yesterday, the Raiders received “better than expected news” after a flurry of tests, per Rapoport. They sought out the hospital’s assistance with their superior equipment as they evaluated Garoppolo for injuries to his ribs and back and ruled out any internal injuries. While not ruling it out completely, Rapoport claimed it would be “a challenge” for Garoppolo to play this week. If he’s unable to go, either Brian Hoyer or fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell would get the start in Chicago. Hoyer sealed the victory in relief of Garoppolo over their former team yesterday, while O’Connell got the start in the Raiders’ Week 4 loss to the Chargers.

Injury Notes: Harris, Tannehill, Garoppolo, Montgomery

Another scary scene in a Bills‘ regular season game, this time on their own home turf. Shortly before halftime in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game, Bills running back Damien Harris went down after an awkward-looking stinger and laid motionless on the turf, per Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN, requiring Buffalo’s award-winning medical staff to leap into action once again.

Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News reported that Harris was able to give the stadium a thumbs up as he was loaded into the ambulance in the middle of the field, providing a bit of comfort in a terrifying situation. Reports quickly followed that Harris was ruled out for the remainder of the contest with a neck injury but that he had movement in his arms and legs as he was being taken to the hospital for further testing, according to The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia.

While James Cook has shouldered most of the load at running back in Buffalo so far this year, Harris has worked in tandem with Latavius Muray to spell Cook here and there. Harris came into the game as the team’s second-leading rusher in the running backs room. Hopefully, Harris will be able to make a quick and strong return to the field and retake his role in the Bills’ backfield.

Here are a few other injury rumors from around the NFL today:

  • Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered a right ankle injury in today’s loss to the Ravens in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. After the initial injury, when a Ravens defender rolled over the back of Tannehill’s legs on a sack, the veteran quarterback attempted to return to the game. He found it difficult to step into throws and subsequently threw an interception. He told the media after the game that he felt he couldn’t be effective with the injury, leading to the entry of backup quarterback Malik Willis. According to ESPN’s Turron Davenport, Tannehill was on crutches after the game with plans to undergo an MRI once back in Tennessee. He missed the last three games of the season last year due to an injury to that same ankle, so there may be some concern about further damage to a previous injury. Despite the early hype, second-round rookie Will Levis has not been active for recent games, leading to the use of Willis. With a bye week coming up, there are myriad possibilities in the quarterbacks room. Tannehill could have plenty of time to heal, Willis could have ample time to prepare, or Levis could use the time to earn the staff’s trust, along with his first start.
  • The Raiders played the second half of today’s win over New England without starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo after the former Patriot left the game with a back injury. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Las Vegas chose to “err on the side of caution” with their 31-year-old quarterback, sending him to the hospital mid-game for some precautionary tests.
  • Lions running back David Montgomery was knocked out of today’s win over the Buccaneers with a rib injury, according to Schefter. With Jahmyr Gibbs already ruled out while nursing a hamstring injury, Detroit turned to third- and fourth-string backs Craig Reynolds and Devine Ozigbo. X-rays came back negative on Montgomery’s ribs, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, a good sign that Montgomery may have avoided serious injury to his ribs. If neither Montgomery nor Gibbs are able to return for next week’s trip to Baltimore, expect more of Reynolds and Ozigbo.