May 10, 2022 By: Kevin Kissner

Tennessee Titans won by trading away A.J. Brown

Sure, it may seem ludicrous that the Tennessee Titans traded away their best wide receiver. But when you break it down, they’re going to be just fine without him.

During the offseason, it had been reported and made clear from the Titans’ organization that they were not going to trade away their top wide receiver. Even head coach Mike Vrabel said on the Rich Eisen Show, “as long as I’m the coach here, I would want to have A.J. Brown on my football team.”

Then came draft night.

The Philadelphia Eagles made an offer that Tennessee couldn’t refuse and the deal went down. Howie Roseman and the Eagles sent the 18^th and 101^st overall picks to Tennessee in exchange for Brown.

After the trade was finalized, Philadelphia agreed to a 4-year $100 million deal with Brown guaranteeing him $57 million.

According to ESPN’s Turron Davenport, Brown said that the Titans had offered him $16 million per season with incentives to jump up to $20 million on average. Brown also told Davenport that he would’ve stayed with Tennessee for $22 million per year.

Gentry Estes of the Tennessean reported that from his understanding, Brown’s team was playing “hardball” and Brown “stopped communicating with the team.”

It’s unclear if Brown requested a trade, but it sounds like the Titans front office was over his cryptic tweeting shenanigans. Tennessee felt like they would be better off drafting a young receiver in the first round and pairing him with veteran receiver Robert Woods.

Woods is recovering from a torn ACL, but is expected to be back in time for training camp. Tennessee traded for Woods back in March for a 2023 6^th-round pick.

Tennessee also added veteran tight end Austin Hooper in the offseason hoping that he can breakout and upgrade the tight end position for the Titans.

Brown has raised eye brows across the league, but when you break down the stats, the numbers might show otherwise since entering the league.

Since 2019, Brown ranks 17^th in receiving yards and 23^rd in receptions. Brown has also caught the 7^th most touchdowns in the NFL over his three seasons in the league.

The fact of the matter is that Tennessee can replace the position for a way cheaper price and they did. Woods is going to hold a $10 million cap hit and they’re newly drafted receiver Treylon Burks is going to be playing on a rookie deal.

The Titans had to ask themselves, why pay a wide receiver $25 million per year for someone who isn’t even cracking the top 15 in yards or even top five in touchdowns.

You also have to look at his playoff numbers. In five playoff games, Brown is averaging just 57.8 receiving yards and just 3.2 receptions per game. Brown also scored just two touchdowns in those five playoff games.

In Robert Woods six playoff games, he’s averaging 68.3 yards 6.3 receptions per game. Woods has only scored just one touchdown.

The Titans can make the argument that Woods has been more productive in the post season than Brown and Woods had Jared Goff throwing him the ball compared to Ryan Tannehill.

The wide receiver class in this year’s NFL Draft was very elite in most experts’ eyes.

The wide receiver position is one of the faster developing positions in the NFL these days. Look at Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson’s rookie seasons — both went for over 1,400 yards in their rookie seasons. It’s safe to say that Burks could go over 1,000 yards in his rookie season and have a solid impact for this Titans team.

Over the past three seasons without Brown, Tennessee went 3-3 without him in the lineup.

With the unstoppable running game and a quarterback that makes the big-time throws when needed, Tennessee should be just fine winning games the old-fashioned way.