Tennessee Titans News & Rumors

Titans Activate RB Derrick Henry

On the precipice of a long-rumored return, Derrick Henry is all but set to take the field Saturday. The two-time rushing champion is back on the Titans’ active roster.

The Titans activated Henry from IR on Friday. This is a procedural move, with Henry needing to be bumped up to the active roster by this afternoon in order to play against the Bengals. Linked to returning in the playoffs for several weeks now, the bulldozing running back is now eligible to do so.

Henry has not played since Week 8 but returned to practice Jan. 5. Despite missing more than half the season, Tennessee’s sixth-year back finished in the top 10 in rushing. The Titans gave their superstar an extra week to rehab by securing the AFC’s top seed. It will be interesting to see how the team deploys Henry, considering his lengthy absence due to a foot fracture.

The NFL’s rushing champion in 2019 and ’20, Henry played a significant role in Ryan Tannehill‘s turnaround and in the Titans advancing to the playoffs during those seasons. He was on pace for another 2,000-yard season this year, but the Halloween injury stalled his run. During Henry’s hiatus, the Titans landed on D’Onta Foreman as their starter. The former third-round pick should still be expected to play a role against Cincinnati, but Henry has moved back into position to reclaim his starting job.

This Date In Transactions History: Titans Hire Mike Vrabel

Four years ago today, the Titans tapped Mike Vrabel as their next head coach. The former Texans defensive coordinator wasn’t thought to be a frontrunner for the job, but he proved to be the “leader of men” that GM Jon Robinson was looking for.

Early on, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was said to be at the top of the Titans’ list. A few weeks later, it was clear that they made the right choice. McDaniels, of course, was announced as the next HC of the Colts, only to leave them at the altar that same day.

Robinson, a one-time Patriots scout, immediately clicked with the longtime Pats linebacker, according to Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk.

“You could see their connection right away from the history they have with one another – seeing the game in a similar way and talking the same language,” Strunk said. “Mike has a commanding presence and a deep knowledge for how he will attack this head coaching opportunity.

With that, Vrabel became the 19th head coach in franchise history and the fourth since 2011. They also managed to snag runner-up Matt LaFleur, luring the Rams OC to Nashville for the same role. LaFleur would leave one year later to become the Packers’ HC, but Vrabel continued to deliver results.

Vrabel’s first Titans team went 9-7, even without Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker on the field. Since then, he’s taken the Titans to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons with AFC South titles in each of the last two years. With a win over the Bengals tomorrow, Vrabel can bring his club back to the AFC title game and one step closer to winning its first Super Bowl in over 20 years.

Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

With the Wild Card round complete, another six positions in the 2022 NFL Draft have been confirmed.

One of the most interesting developments relates to the Philadelphia Eagles. After losing on Sunday, their own first round pick has been locked in at No. 19, having already known they would also own the 15th and 16th selections. What the team does with that much draft capital will be one of the most interesting storylines of the draft.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.

Here is the updated order after this weekend’s results:

  1. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
  2. Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
  3. Houston Texans: 4-13
  4. New York Jets: 4-13
  5. New York Giants: 4-13
  6. Carolina Panthers: 5-12
  7. New York Giants(via Bears)
  8. Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
  9. Denver Broncos: 7-10
  10. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
  11. Washington Football Team: 7-10
  12. Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
  13. Cleveland Browns: 8-9
  14. Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
  15. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
  16. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
  17. Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
  18. New Orleans Saints: 9-8
  19. Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
  20. Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
  21. New England Patriots: 10-7
  22. Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
  23. Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
  24. Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
  25. Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7*
  26. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
  27. Buffalo Bills: 11-6*
  28. Detroit Lions (via Rams)
  29. Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5*
  30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4*
  31. Tennessee Titans: 12-5*
  32. Green Bay Packers: 13-4*

* = Remaining playoff teams

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/17/22

Today’s minor transactions around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Los Angeles Rams

Tennessee Titans

Vikings Complete Ossenfort Interview Today

The Vikings announced today that they completed their interview of Titans’ director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort to fill their open general manager position.

The 43-year old actually began his NFL career in Minnesota, starting off as a training camp intern for the Vikings in 2001. The next season, Ossenfort joined the Texans’ organization as a pro personnel department intern. He spent the following season in New England as a personnel assistant before returning to Houston in the role of pro and college scouting assistant. He was promoted after a year to the position of college scout for the Texans. Ossenfort returned to New England the next year and stayed there until two seasons ago, spending his last six years with the Patriots as their director of college scouting. He’s been in his current position as the Titans’ director of player personnel since then.

Ossenfort is the first one of several candidates to interview for the Vikings’ job and he interviewed for the Giants’ and Bears’ positions on Friday and Saturday respectively. To stay up to date on all the different candidates for the open general manager jobs, follow along with our 2022 NFL General Manager Search Tracker.

Bears Interview Titans’ Monti Ossenfort

Today the Chicago Bears announced that they interviewed Monti Ossenfort for the their open general manager position. While not previously mentioned as a candidate for Chicago, Ossenfort has interviewed with the Giants and will interview with the Vikings tomorrow.

Ossenfort has been the director of player personnel in Tennessee for the past two years. Prior to the Titans, he spent 17 seasons in the Patriots’ organization, acting as the director of college scouting in his last six years in New England.

As far as we’ve seen, Ossenfort is the fifth candidate to interview for the open general manager position and Chicago has several other targets who have yet to interview. Follow the updates on all three open general manager positions on our 2022 NFL General Manager Search Tracker.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/11/22

A number of players continue to sign reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (mostly) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. We’ve compiled today’s reserve/futures contracts below:

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/11/22

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed: WR John Hurst

Tennessee Titans

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/10/22

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Green Bay Packers

New England Patriots

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

The NFL’s first ever 17-game regular season is now over, and the 14-team playoff field is set. The end of the year also confirms, of course, the draft order for the top 18 picks, allowing the non-playoff clubs to begin planning for the offseason.

Despite their upset win on Sunday, the Jaguars will have the top selection for the second year in a row; this marks the fifth time a team has had back-to-back No. 1 picks, and the first since the Browns did in 2017-18.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.

Here is the final draft order (for non-playoff teams) along with the current projected order for the 14 postseason clubs:

  1. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
  2. Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
  3. Houston Texans: 4-13
  4. New York Jets: 4-13
  5. New York Giants: 4-13
  6. Carolina Panthers: 5-12
  7. New York Giants(via Bears)
  8. Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
  9. Denver Broncos: 7-10
  10. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
  11. Washington Football Team: 7-10
  12. Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
  13. Cleveland Browns: 8-9
  14. Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
  15. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
  16. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
  17. Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
  18. New Orleans Saints: 9-8
  19. Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8*
  20. Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1*
  21. New England Patriots: 10-7*
  22. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)*
  23. Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7*
  24. Arizona Cardinals: 11-6*
  25. Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7*
  26. Buffalo Bills: 11-6*
  27. Detroit Lions (via Rams)
  28. Dallas Cowboys: 12-5*
  29. Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5*
  30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4*
  31. Tennessee Titans: 12-5*
  32. Green Bay Packers: 13-4*

* = Playoffs