We’re officially less than 17 days away from the Tennessee Titans opening up the 2023 season against the New Orleans Saints. In the meantime, the Titans still have their preseason finale and official cutdown day to get through before anything else.
However, teams across the league are already starting to make moves via trades in the hope of improving their rosters before Week 1.
On Thursday along, the New York Giants traded for versatile defender Isaiah Simmons, the Houston Texans traded for offensive tackle Josh Jones, and our old friend and former Titans backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Arizona Cardinals.
And those might not be the last of the trades to happen, as several teams are reportedly contemplating the pros and cons of a potential blockbuster move to acquire Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.
As for the Titans, their name hasn’t been rumored in anything just yet, but Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report thinks they should be eyeing two potential trades over the coming days and weeks.
One of the moves that Ballentine thinks the Titans should make is parting ways with quarterback Malik Willis by sending him to the Giants. The Bleacher Report scribe doesn’t list what the Titans get back, though.
His reasoning for dealing Willis revolves around the fact that “the writing is on the wall” when it comes to Willis after Tennessee traded up to the top of the second round to select Will Levis. Here’s some of what he wrote:
Willis might be QB2 now, but the Titans didn’t trade up for Will Levis in Round 2 to not be the heir apparent to Ryan Tannehill.
Instead, the Titans should be willing to ship him off to a place where he has a shot to be the future quarterback or at least the backup.
In my opinion, unless the Giants make an offer the Titans simply can’t refuse, I think it would be a horrible decision to just give Willis away after one year.
I’d much rather allow Willis to continue developing for the rest of the year, ultimately setting up a massive position battle between the two Day 2 quarterbacks in 2024, assuming Ryan Tannehill isn’t brought back.
At the very least, the Titans will have their backup quarterback of the future in Willis on a cheap contract for the final two years of his deal.
Ballentine also thinks the Titans should be buyers before Week 1 by acquiring Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White.
Here is what the Bleacher Report analyst had to say about this hypothetical scenario.
The Titans are a team still searching for the answer at linebacker. They brought in Azeez Al-Shaair this offseason, but they could be counting on undrafted free-agent linebacker Jack Gibbens to start beside him. White could give them a long-term solution at a position of need.
Now this is a move I can get behind for the right price. White would instantly help an already impressive defense look even better the second he arrives.
The real question becomes: at what price?
It’s hard to envision the Bucs just giving away a player they invested a ton of capital in, especially one that has played very well at times, so I personally wouldn’t get my hopes up on this one coming to fruition, either.
