NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Tennessee Titans I had a jump on the NFL trade deadline starting to stock up on draft picks on Wednesday with a pair of trades.
More moves are likely for a franchise mired in a 1-5 start that is the Titans’ worst since 2015 that cost Ken Whisenhunt his job after going 1-6 to open his sophomore season. Tennessee could reach 1-6 on Sunday after a match at Detroit (5-1).
Coach Brian Callahan could not discuss the decisions, which were not finalized when he spoke with reporters at noon. He called such moves a reality of the NFL business and made it clear it wasn’t what the Titans expected after being among the league’s biggest spenders in free agency.
“It’s part of our life in the league,” Callahan said. “And when you get to those pivotal moments of the season, things like this happen. I mean, it’s usually because you’re in the same situation as us.
The Titans traded three-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Kansas City early Wednesday. Tennessee would pay part of Hopkins’ salary with the conditional fifth round selection becoming a fourth if the Chiefs make the Super Bowl for the fifth time in six seasons.
Then they traded their second tackle to linebacker. Ernest Jones Jr. in Seattle for linebacker Jerome Baker and a fourth-round pick.
This ended a short stay in Tennessee for Jones, who was traded by the Rams to the Titans in late August and is in the final year of his rookie contract. Jones led the Rams in tackles last season and was their defensive signal-caller in 2023. Jones started five of his six games for Tennessee.
The Jones trade alone nets the Titans a fourth-round pick in April and a sixth-round pick in 2026 with Baker at the price of a fifth-round pick in 2026. Baker, 27, has started 87 of his 99 matches and signed a one-year contract with Seattle in March.
Jeffery Simmons, a two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman, said he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Hopkins, so he reached out to him via FaceTime. Jones was in a defensive meeting this morning, but not in a pre-practice walkthrough.
“We lost two good players today,” Simmons said.
The current decisions leave the Titans with eight selections in next April’s NFL Draft, and this debut puts them on track for the franchise’s highest pick since 2017, when they made Corey Davis the first wide receiver taken 5th overall.
Callahan said they are striving to win as many games as possible in a season where he has made it clear the Titans want to get a true evaluation of second-year quarterback Will Levis.
The Titans coach also said he was leaning toward scratching Levis for a second straight game to further heal the quarterback’s throwing shoulder after Levis sprained his right AC joint on September 30. Lévis started the next game after being exempt from the team, but only threw for 95 points. yards in a loss to the Colts.
Lévis usually speaks to journalists on Wednesday, and Lévis and Mason Rudolph will speak on Thursday instead.
Other tradable assets include 2021 Pro Bowl linebacker Harold Landrywho has four sacks in six starts with one save in his contract after this season.
The Titans are in the final week to evaluate whether to add rookie linebacker Cedric Gray to the active list. The fourth-round pick out of North Carolina started the season on injured reserve with an injured shoulder.
Callahan said it’s the front office’s job to look to the future. For coaches and players, winning is now their only goal.
“There’s still a whole locker room of guys here that play hard and play for each other, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Callahan said. “Again, opportunities will present themselves and guys need to take advantage of them. »
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