The Tennessee Titans are back in the driver’s seat.
Unexpected wins from the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets have the Titans as the lone team with one win this season, so even without taking the field during their bye week, Tennessee now possesses a coveted commodity – the first overall pick in the NFL Draft – with eight games still remaining.
The Titans will have to be careful down the stretch as they still have a road game at Cleveland, which has two wins, Dec. 7, and a home game with the Saints Dec. 28. A loss then might lock up the No. 1 pick for the second year in a row.
As unenviable as that might be for the players, if the Titans stumble again to the finish line and grab the first overall choice for the second straight season it could be a key to eventually getting this franchise turned around. Provided they do it right.
With all due respect to Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick in 2025, the Titans need to do what they perhaps should have done last year and trade that pick for multiple shots to fill holes on a Swiss cheese roster.
Last year, it was reported that the New York Giants were willing to give the Titans four picks – their first-rounder last year and a No. 1 in 2026 – to allow them to draft Ward.
The Titans stood firm and selected Ward, and while the early returns have not been overly favorable, the jury is still out on that decision. The Giants, well, they are probably happy now that they were rejected as they took pass rusher Abdul Carter and wound up trading back up into round one for Jaxson Dart – filling two holes instead of one.
This time, though, assuming whoever the new coach is is all-in on Ward, the Titans would have the chance to convert that pick into more picks over the next couple of drafts. It is really the only chance the franchise has to get out of a four-year rut that keeps getting deeper and deeper each season.
What they need is for some of the other teams who are down near the bottom of the standing with them, to fall in love with a quarterback in this year’s draft.
Maybe it’s the Jets, who are armed with plenty of picks after dealing Quennin Williams and Sauce Gardner at the trade deadline.
Maybe it is the Saints or Browns, who are still breaking in their own rookie quarterbacks in Tyler Shough and Dillon Gabriel, respectively. Granted, neither of them were first-round picks, so the leash could be much shorter than it would be for another team.
Of course, it all becomes moot if the Titans somehow win a game or two between now and the season’s end. And as unlikely as that might be, it can happen. Not many had the Saints and Jets doing what they did Sunday either.