Over the last few years, the Tennessee Titans have been the best team in the AFC South. In the last four seasons, Tennessee has a 39-27 record with two division championships and three trips to the playoffs. During that time, the Titans also won five straight games against their rival Indianapolis Colts. Tennessee was undoubtedly the kings of the AFC South.
However, times have quickly changed, and Colts fans couldn’t be happier. After seven weeks of the 2023 NFL season, Tennessee sits at the bottom of the AFC South. The 5-2 Jacksonville Jaguars, 3-3 Houston Texans, and 3-4 Colts all have a better than the 2-4 Titans. Additionally, Indy finally got a win against Tennessee, defeating the Titans 23-16 in a Week 5 matchup.
The brief run that the Titans had seems to be over, and they know it as well. That’s why the franchise recently made a trade that had the NFL world laughing, as Tennessee sent Kevin Byard to the Philadelphia Eagles for safety Terrell Edmunds, a fifth-round pick, and a sixth-round pick. Byard is just 31 years old, and is a two-time Pro Bowl, All-Pro safety. Any time a team trades a talent like that away to a contending team, a rebuild is near.
Titans trading Kevin Byard is a sign that they’re rebuilding
This isn’t the first trade that Tennessee has made with the Eagles. During the 2022 NFL Draft, the Titans opted to trade wide receiver AJ Brown to Philly, instead of extending him. That’s a decision that definitely didn’t workout well for Tennessee. AJ Brown currently has 809 receiving yards on the season That’s more than all Titans receivers combined.
#Eagles WR AJ Brown has more receiving yards this season (809) than all #Titans WRs have combined (789). pic.twitter.com/2WdCX8AS9t
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 23, 2023
The group of Tennessee wideouts include future Hall of Famer DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins was warned that Tennessee is where the careers of elite wide receivers plummet, and he that he could be the next in line of that infamous tradition. Hopkins is still proving to be productive, recording 27 receptions for 376 yards, but things aren’t going well for the team.
Overall, things are just rolling downhill for the Titans. Ryan Tannehill is hurt, and hasn’t been playing his best football, and he’s also on the final year of his contract. So is Derrick Henry, who has been the engine for Tennessee during their successful years. There has also been talk about Henry possibly being traded at the trade deadline. If that happens, Tennessee will be officially moving on to a new era.