Tennessee Titans

Titans’ identity is to ‘fight,’ but selling at trade deadline may be best strategy

Published Oct. 17, 2023 5:58 p.m. ET

Mike Vrabel isn't one to punt on a season, so it's ridiculous to believe that would even be in his calculus before Halloween. If there's a chance, he's all-in. It's his personality — which he embodied as a linebacker in the NFL for 14 seasons and which has only been reinforced by his experiences as Titans coach in years past.

Take 2021, when the Titans began the year with a 25-point drubbing at home, when they were forced to use more players than any other team in league history in a non-strike season due to injuries, and when they still won 12 games en route to the AFC's No. 1 seed.

Take 2019, when they started 2-4 but won nine of their next 12 games, including the playoffs, and pushed the eventual Super Bowl-champion Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

So it's not surprising to hear Vrabel's message Monday, with the Titans back in Nashville after falling to the Ravens in London, Tennessee's third loss in four games.

"We're going to fight," Vrabel said. "If you want our identity, we're going to fight. We ain't going to quit. We've been through this before."

But Tennessee (2-4), currently last in the AFC South entering its bye week, must strongly consider the opportunity cost of trying to remain in playoff contention in a season that doesn't look like it's going anywhere. With the Oct. 31 trade deadline fast approaching, the Titans could net needed draft capital by offloading veterans.

The Titans are currently scheduled to have just five picks in the 2024 draft: a first, second, fourth and two sevenths (they might have a third seventh, depending on the conditional terms of a trade with the Raiders). They are not deep in rookie-contract talent either, essential to sustaining a contending team for the long haul (they came in at fifth-worst on FOX Sports' young talent rankings in September).

[Arthur: NFL young talent: No. 27 Titans have aging core but DT Jeffery Simmons leads next wave]

So being sellers at the deadline would make sense for a Titans team that is barreling toward hitting the reset button in 2024 anyway, with quarterback Ryan Tannehill and running back Derrick Henry set to be unrestricted free agents, and the possibility that this will be safety Kevin Byard's last year in Nashville. (The team would save $6.2 million against the 2024 salary cap by trading or releasing Byard with a pre-June 1 designation, according to Over The Cap.) The Titans also have two young quarterbacks — second-round rookie Will Levis, 2021 third-round pick Malik Willis — who need to have a legitimate chance to prove themselves.

"I think we would always consider strengthening the team, whether that's right now, this week, or in the future," Vrabel said of being active at the trade deadline. "Absolutely."

Where do the Titans stand after six weeks?

Vrabel said the 2023 Titans will fight, but it's more than just for victories in the win-loss column. It's to figure out who they are.

Many of the things they've done well in the past are unraveling.

"Probably. Maybe. We'll see," Vrabel said Sunday when asked if some of the team's issues may not be correctable. "I'm not going to stop trying, not going to stop trying to prepare them and fundamentals and execution. There will be some good plays in there and there will certainly be ones in there that we have to eliminate that are getting us beat."

The Titans' red-zone offense, which never ranked worse than sixth in the league from 2019-22, is currently 29th this season. Tennessee's run game, it's calling card offensively, currently ranks 16th in the league. The rushing attack hasn't ranked that low for a full season since 2015, when it ranked 25th.

The Titans' run defense — rated first in the NFL from 2021-22 and fourth through four weeks of this season — has allowed 332 rushing yards the past two weeks, second-worst in the NFL in that span, according to Next Gen Stats. And the pass rush that was expected to dominate with the return of Harold Landry, a fully healthy Jeffery Simmons and free-agent signee Arden Key has been middle of the road — 15th in pressure rate (37.3%) and 19th in sack rate (6.8%), per NGS.

Tennessee's defense has also been undisciplined in the back end. The Titans are allowing a 71.5% completion rate and a 101.0 passer rating through six weeks, third-worst and fifth-worst in the league, respectively. The Titans are allowing a .05 EPA per dropback, tied for 26th in the NFL, per NGS. The defense has had to stay on the field a lot, with opponents' drives lasting on average 3:07, tied for third-worst in the league, according to Pro Football Reference.

"We need to figure out the guys who're going to fight," Simmons said after the Ravens game, via The Tennessean. "We need to figure out the guys who want to be out there. Not the guys that don't want to be out there. That's what it needs to be. We need to reevaluate our team and figure it out. That's the message. Let's figure it out: Who wants to play football for the Titans?"

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Tannehill is currently battling a right ankle injury, which he suffered in the second half of Sunday's loss to the Ravens. It's the same ankle he had surgically repaired last season. While it's unclear how much time he'll miss — it's possible he'll be sidelined a game or two post-bye — Vrabel said Monday that Tannehill is the starting quarterback as long as he's healthy. That's a clear indication that the Titans coach is still committed to contending this season. Or trying, at least.

"Maybe I'll read the mean tweets," Vrabel said. "I'll read all the funny stuff that they say about us or me specifically. Did that one year and I think we ended up winning 12 games. ‘This coach sucks. This guy stinks.' Ended up having a different tune. The guys all laughed about it.

"What I'm frustrated by is I'm frustrated when we lose," he continued. "I am. We put a lot into this."

The question is this, though: Would the Titans just be better off fighting for their future?

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.