How an NFL team squashed their dynasty hopes in 10 minutes 

What if I told you that an NFL General Manager took his team from a possible dynasty to a rebuild in 10 minutes?

Leading up to the 2022 NFL draft the Tennessee Titans were coming off back-to-back playoff runs and had high hopes of a repeat but what happened next would change the franchise's Super Bowl aspirations.

 A.J. Brown was traded from the Tennessee Titans in 2022 during the NFL draft for a first-round pick from the Philadelphia Eagles and used that pick to draft Treylon Burks. 

What happened next was surprising, to say the least. After A.J. Brown was traded the Tennessee Titans would go from 12 wins and 5 losses in 2021 to just 7 wins and 10 losses missing the playoffs. You might think well it could have been a coincidence it was just one player, that is until we realize the team A.J. Brown was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles made the Super Bowl in 2022.

So why did they trade A.J. Brown? 

Well, that answer is simple A.J. Brown was going on the last year of his contract and the Titans knew that they wouldn't be able to re-sign A.J. Brown and be able to pay some of their key defensive players so they gambled. Treylon Burks was widely considered a clone of A.J. Brown so the Titans thought that he would be able to replace Brown and they can use that money to add additional weapons in the future due to Burks still being on an inexpensive rookie contract.

The problem with the Titans anticipating Treylon Burks being able to replace A.J. Brown’s production is that Treylon Burks was hurt the following season, and to add insult to injury Ryan Tannehill looked like a shell of himself lacking a receiver like Brown that could create separation. While Derrick Henry the Titans star running back had a great year running for over 1500 yards the offense was never the same. 

What can we learn from this failed trade? 

I think the answer is simple if you have a star on offense you have to pay them or get proven talent that can replace them. What the Titans did was irresponsible. They had gone to the playoffs the last 2 years and while we will never know what could have happened we have to assume that the Titans would be in a much better situation moving forward as they are going to be in rebuild mode for at least this season. 

Ryan Tanehill is no longer the Titans starting quarterback in favor of their 2023 2nd round draft pick who took the starting job after Tannehill was benched in the 2023 season. Derrick Henry was also released this off-season which leaves the Titans in rebuild mode with a dark future ahead.