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Chig Okonkwo

Tony Pollard, T’Vondre Sweat Among Titans Drawing Trade Interest

November 1st, 2025 at 12:08pm CST by Connor Byrne

The Titans swung a noteworthy deal earlier this week in sending cornerback Roger McCreary to the Rams. With the 1-7 club potentially lining up for a fire sale, more players could follow McCreary out of Tennessee before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Running back Tony Pollard and defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat are among the Titans generating the most interest around the NFL, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic. The previously reported pass-rushing duo of Arden Key and Dre’Mont Jones are also on teams’ radars, per Russini. Albert Breer of SI.com adds tight end Chig Okonkwo to the list of Titans who have drawn interest.

With rookie quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward at the helm, the Titans will “be careful about further gutting certain areas of the roster,” Breer writes. Having already fired head coach Brian Callahan last month, the Titans don’t want to further risk stunting Ward’s development. Trading Pollard and/or Okonwko would subtract from Ward’s weapons, though neither player has put up big numbers on a last-ranked offense this year.

Pollard, a former Cowboy, is in the second season of a three-year, $21MM deal he signed in March 2024. Previous Titans general manager Ran Carthon was at the controls then. The current regime of president of football operations Chad Brinker and GM Mike Borgonzi may be willing to part with Pollard, which would leave Tyjae Spears as the Titans’ No. 1 back. While Pollard is due to count $9.25MM against the salary cap in 2026, the Titans or another team could release him in the offseason and save $7.25MM.

After turning in his third straight 1,000-yard showing in 2024, Pollard has rushed for 424 yards and two touchdowns on a career-low 3.9 YPC this season. The 28-year-old also entered 2025 with four straight seasons of at least 39 receptions under his belt. With 18 catches through eight games this year, he’s on a similar pace.

Kansas City, New England, and the Los Angeles Chargers are among contending teams that are reportedly in the market for running backs. Pollard could be of interest to those clubs as a prominent name in a thin market for RBs, especially if they deem the Jets’ asking price for Breece Hall prohibitive.

Okonwko, 26, has been a mainstay in Tennessee’s lineup since the team used a fourth-round pick on him in 2022. While the former Maryland Terrapin has played in 59 straight games since his pro career began, a trip to free agency is looming in the offseason. The Titans could move on via trade before then, leaving an acquiring team to take on the remainder of Okonkwo’s $3.41MM salary. Okonkwo leads the Titans with 27 receptions this season, putting him on pace for his third straight 50-catch campaign, but they have a successor in fourth-round rookie Gunnar Helm.

It’s fair to say Sweat would command the largest return of any of the Titans’ potential trade candidates. The 2024 second-rounder from Texas started in 16 of 17 games as a rookie and logged 51 tackles and a sack. An ankle injury has limited Sweat to three games (all starts) this year, but the 366-pounder is now healthy. He has already notched a personal-best two sacks in 2025.

The Titans, who understandably aren’t in any hurry to move on from Sweat, “would like to see if a new staff can reach him,” Breer writes. Interim head coach Mike McCoy replaced Callahan, but it’s unlikely the Titans will promote him to the full-time job after the season. If that’s the case, and if Tennessee keeps Sweat, a different Titans staff will be in charge of getting the most out of him in 2026.

Titans’ Arden Key Drawing Trade Interest

October 16th, 2025 at 10:56pm CST by Connor Byrne

With multiple teams looking for pass-rushing help ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline and the 1-5 Titans likely to sell, outside linebacker Arden Key could end up on the move in the next couple of weeks. Key has drawn interest on the trade market, according to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com.

Key was also a trade candidate leading up to last year’s deadline, but the 29-year-old remains in Tennessee. With a trip to free agency looming for Key in the offseason, the Titans may now have more urgency to ship him out for the best offer.

The soon-to-expire three-year, $21MM deal Key signed with the Titans in 2023 came under a different regime. He’s on a $6.5MM base salary with a $9.29MM cap hit during the final season of that contract. President of football operations Chad Brinker and first-year general manager Mike Borgonzi will decide his fate by the deadline.

Key has been dealing with a quadriceps injury, which could complicate matters. He missed a loss to the Raiders last Sunday – the final game of the Brian Callahan era – and hasn’t practiced leading up to this week’s matchup with the Patriots.

In the five games he has played this year, Key has notched 1.5 sacks. He averaged just under six per season from 2021-24. Key spent the first of those four years with the 49ers, who are on the lookout for pass rushers. A reunion with Key could make sense, though that’s merely speculation.

Along with Key, fellow OLB Dre’Mont Jones, cornerback Roger McCreary, and tight end Chig Okonkwo are potential Titans trade candidates, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Those three join Key as pending free agents, meaning the Titans are at least in position to consider offers.

Jones is making $1.99MM, though he carries a significantly higher cap hit than that ($8.51MM). Typically good for around five sacks per season, the former Bronco and Seahawk inked a one-year, $10MM with the Titans last March. Jones has totaled 17 tackles, two QB hits, and a sack in six games in 2025. Pro Football Focus ranks his performance 55th among 111 qualifiers at his position (Key checks in at No. 72).

McCreary joined the Titans when they selected him 35th overall in the 2022 draft. He has since started in 36 of 53 regular-season games, including one of six this year, and pulled in three interceptions. The nickel corner expressed a desire to remain with the Titans before the season, but he remains unsigned beyond this year. He’s playing out 2025 on a $3.66MM salary and a $4.63MM cap hit.

Okonkwo was part of the same Titans draft class as McCreary in 2022. Former GM Jon Robinson took Okonkwo in the fourth round, and he has played in 57 straight regular-season games since then. Okonkwo entered 2025 off back-to-back 50-catch seasons and has added 23 with 218 yards and no scores through six games this year. He’s earning $3.41MM with a $3.54MM cap hit. The Titans may have a potential replacement lined up in fourth-round rookie Gunnar Helm.

It’s unlikely all of these players will end up elsewhere by Nov. 4. However, with the Titans out of playoff contention, they’re all worth monitoring as the deadline draws closer.

AFC South Rumors: Titans, Rader, Perryman

July 15th, 2023 at 2:21pm CST by Ely Allen

The tight ends room in Tennessee is going to look very different from recent years, according to Titans senior writer/editor Jim Wyatt. In addition to a new instructor, as former running backs coach Tony Dews takes over the position coaching duties, some main contributors from the past few years are no longer present.

With Austin Hooper and Geoff Swaim both hitting the free agent market this past spring, second-year tight end Chig Okonkwo has inherited a massive leading role. Okonkwo already put himself on the map as a rookie, outgaining Hooper with 450 receiving yards, good for second on the team. His three receiving touchdowns led all tight ends in Tennessee last year and were also good for second on the team. Already expected to take a step forward in 2023, he’ll receive a lot more targets with Hooper now in Las Vegas. Swaim, the team’s former primary blocking tight end, was also not re-signed, so the Titans will be looking for Okonkwo to step up as a blocker, as well.

Behind Okonkwo, the team signed Trevon Wesco, who has served as a backup tight end and special teamer for the Jets and Bears, previously. They also drafted Josh Whyle out of Cincinnati in the fifth round this year. Both should provide a bit of depth behind Okonkwo, and while Whyle was a strong redzone target for the Bearcats in college, neither tight end threatens to take many snaps away from Okonkwo.

Here are a few other rumors coming out of the AFC South:

  • The Titans have been known to respect the tight end position and are certainly a candidate to keep four on the roster. With Okonkwo, Wesco, and Whyle likely safely on the 53-man roster, who might end up snagging that last roster spot? The likeliest pick would be Kevin Rader who started two games in 14 appearances for the Titans last year. He didn’t record any offensive stats in 2022, but he was a strong special teams contributor and a solid extra blocker on the line. His competition for the potential roster spot will be former XFL player Alize Mack, Justin Rigg, whom they signed to a reserve/futures contract at the end of last season, and Thomas Odukoya, the team’s International Pathway program addition from the Netherlands.
  • After two strong years with the Raiders, veteran linebacker Denzel Perryman landed with the Texans. Only a year removed from a Pro Bowl season, it was a bit of a surprise to see his newest contract only amount to a $2.6MM base salary. According to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, Perryman expected a much bigger free agent market for himself before settling for his deal in Houston. The Raiders ended up replacing him with Robert Spillane, a former backup in Pittsburgh, paying Spillane with a two-year contract that has a $3.5MM average. So, why the disappointing return for Perryman? Perryman is an all-around better linebacker than Spillane, but he’s older and has missed at least five games in three of the last six years. Perryman’s new contract includes a $900K incentive based on playing time that would end up paying out $3.5MM if he can stay healthy.