After losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars and getting knocked out of the NFL playoffs, the Tennessee Titans front office has to conclude that it is time to rebuild.
Losing to the Jaguars ended the Tennessee Titans’ 3-year playoff streak; this might have happened for the better. If the Titans were to make the playoffs, they probably would’ve retooled around the roster. Instead, the front office knows their roster isn’t up to par with other championship-contending teams. Certainly, the Tennessee Titans have pieces to get assets to rebuild, and they have assets to build around.
The Titans can start by parting ways with Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry. Most Tennessee Titans fans can handle trading Tannehill but Probably won’t be able to handle parting ways with Henry. And that is entirely understandable as Henry has rushed for over one-thousands yards in every season, but two; Henry has been nothing other than impressive in his career, But it makes so much sense to trade Henry.
What would parting ways with Tannehill, Henry, and other players do for the Tennessee Titans?
First, trading or releasing Tannehill would equal either getting draft picks or freeing up cap space. Realising Tannehill would save $17.8 million in cap space. Getting rid of Tannehill would allow the Tennessee Titans to be a bad team. With Tannehill at QB, the Titans will never be bad enough to have a top 3 pick, and they will never be good enough to win a Super Bowl.
Releasing the other players, such as Bud Dupree, Taylor Lewan, Robert Woods, and Zach Cunningham, would free up over $53 million in cap space. That money would allow the Tennessee Titans to re-sign Demarcus Walker, Austin Hooper, Nate Davis, David Long, and Teair Tart. And it would also allow more cap space heading into the 2023-24 offseason.
Trading Henry would mean you gather draft picks-henry might not be worth a first-round pick, but teams would give up a second-round pick and a couple of late-round picks. This would give the titans the assets to build around Treylon Burks, Hassan Haskins, Kristian Fulton, and more.
As much as trading Henry would hurt, Titan fans have to recognize that a running back can’t be the best player on a championship team in today’s NFL. The leading rushers for the past 10-Super Bowl-winning teams were Sony Michel (2x), Ronald Jones, Damien Williams, LaGarrette Blount (2x), Ronnie Hillman, Jonas Gray, Marshawn Lynch, and Ray Rice. However, only three of those players rushed for one-thousand yards during the Super Bowl-winning season.
It will be interesting to see what the Tennessee Titans will do in the offseason, but They should start the rebuilding process sooner rather than later.