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Take a quick tour of St. Thomas Sports Park, headquarters of the Tennessee Titans. Start with the team’s personnel offices, where general manager Ran Carthon in one 24-hour period Wednesday picked up a pair of coveted Day 3 selections in the 2025 draft and improved his team’s salary-cap position.

Dealing DeAndre Hopkins to the Chiefs and Ernest Jones to the Seahawks netted Carthon at least one selection in both the fourth and fifth rounds. Should Hopkins hit certain conditions in Kansas City, Carthon may have picked up two fourth-round picks. Plus, in dealing Jones to Seattle, Carthon actually got more from the Seahawks (a fourth-round pick) than he gave up to acquire Jones before the season. Tennessee, one of four NFL teams currently with one victory, now has four choices over the first four rounds of the 2025 draft, and that’s prior to potential compensatory awards.

It was a good day on the football operations side of the building for the Titans (1-5). Now, walk to the coaches’ offices and visit the players in the locker room – courtesy of beat writer Nick Suss — where there’s a disconcerting feeling that if Carthon can trade important starters like Hopkins and Jones, he could trade anyone.

“Man, everyone wonders about that,” defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons told Suss after the Titans’ first practice in preparation for Detroit on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX) “That’s the nature of the business.”

“That can be me,” edge-rusher Arden Key said. “That could be anybody … I don’t understand the trades but it’s not for me to understand.”

Also hard to understand are some of the decisions made early in the year by quarterback Will Levis. While Levis was improving prior to a shoulder injury, which looks likely to sideline him again this week at Detroit (5-1), Carthon might be open to trading the quarterback as well.

But regardless of whether Levis or Mason Rudolph starts over the balance of the season, the Titans can hang their hat on their defense. The unit continues to lead the league (272.2 yards allowed per game). Tennessee is third against the pass (166.7) and seventh against the run (105.5). However, they’re heading into a storm on Sunday without Jones. Detroit owns the NFL’s second-ranked offense (411.8 yards per game).


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By Zak Gilbert

Since his freshman year at the University of Colorado, Zak has worked 30 years in sports, including 18 NFL seasons. He's spent time with four NFL teams, serving as head of communications for both the Raiders and Browns. A veteran of nine Super Bowls, he most recently worked six seasons in the NFL's New York league office.

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