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Thomas Dimitroff To Interview For Titans’ GM Job

January 8th, 2025 at 6:53pm CST by Ely Allen

After interviewing for the Jets’ open general manager position back in December, former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has continued his efforts to return to an NFL front office. Per Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com, Dimitroff is set to interview for the same job in Tennessee.

Dimitroff has been out of the NFL for a while now, not holding a position in the league since being fired alongside then-head coach Dan Quinn in 2020. His focus has since shifted to a billionaire-backed football analytics company, SumerSports, which hired Dimitroff on as president of football operations. The company, which is “aimed at creating precision in player acquisition and roster management in the NFL,” must have kept Dimitroff busy during the past few GM interview cycles, as this is his first time even interviewing since 2021.

Dimitroff had earned his first GM job after a run with the Patriots, where he served as the scouting director from 2003-07, collecting two Super Bowl rings. He then filled the role as Atlanta’s GM from 2008-20, overseeing a run of playoff berths during Matt Ryan‘s tenure. Taking over the Falcons in the aftermath of the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal, Dimitroff chose Ryan third overall in his first draft at the helm and built rosters that booked first-round playoff byes in 2010, 2012, and 2016. Ultimately, the team had journeyed to the playoffs six times during Dimitroff’s tenure, reaching the NFC championship game twice. The Falcons’ lone trip to the Super Bowl under Dimitroff ended in the now infamous 28-3 collapse.

The veteran exec worked in the NFL from 1993-2020 but has not held a position since. GMs receive second chances at a much lower rate than head coaches, as only two second-chance GMs — Trent Baalke (Jaguars), Tom Telesco (Raiders) — are currently in place. Dimitroff, 58, last interviewed for a GM post in 2021, having met with the Lions about the gig that went to Brad Holmes.

According to McCormick, the Titans are planning to conduct their first round of interviews starting Thursday and continuing over the next two days. Due to an intense winter storm hitting Nashville at the moment, the first round of interviews will likely all be virtual. Should the cold weather subside, in-person interviews could begin next Monday and Tuesday. Dimitroff is currently one of seven candidates reported for the position.

2025 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

January 8th, 2025 at 6:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Titans and Raiders again became part of a GM carousel in the 2020s. Tennessee canned its front office boss after two seasons, while Las Vegas moved on after one. These two joined the Jets, and after two-plus offseason weeks, the Jaguars followed suit by firing Trent Baalke. With the Titans, Raiders and Jets landing on GMs, the Jags are the only team left searching. Here is how the GM market looks:

Updated 2-21-25 (4:00pm CT)

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

Titans Request GM Interviews With Mike Borgonzi, Terrance Gray, Catherine Hickman

January 8th, 2025 at 11:02am CST by Sam Robinson

Searching for a new GM for a second time in three years, the Titans are moving forward after firing Ran Carthon. They have sent out three GM interview requests, with familiar names — albeit one with a slight adjustment — surfacing early.

Tennessee sent out interview slips to Kansas City assistant GM Mike Borgonzi and Cleveland AGM Catherine Hickman, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. Hickman was formerly Catherine Raiche; she has been with the Browns since the 2022 offseason. The team also sent a request to meet with Bills director of player personnel Terrance Gray, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports.

Hickman remains one of the frontrunners to become the NFL’s first modern-era woman GM. She has been part of the GM carousel in the past, having interviewed for the Vikings’ top front office job in 2022. Hickman came over from the Eagles in 2022, being one of four Philly execs to earn an assistant GM job elsewhere that offseason. Hickman arrived in Cleveland months after the team’s Deshaun Watson trade/extension, which may well be important given where that arrangement has headed.

The other team in need at GM, the Jets, is interviewing Borgonzi today. Because the Chiefs earned a first-round bye, their GM and HC candidates — thus far Borgonzi and Matt Nagy, respectively — can meet with clubs virtually this week. Borgonzi has been with the Chiefs since 2009, predating Andy Reid‘s tenure. The Scott Pioli-era hire has climbed the ladder during the Reid-Brett Veach years, however, becoming the AFC superpower’s assistant GM in 2021. Borgonzi has a strong relationship with Titans president of football ops Chad Brinker, SI.com’s Albert Breer adds, so this will be something to follow closely in the days to come.

Gray joins Brian Gaine as Bills execs to receive an interview slip during this year’s cycle; the Jets requested a Gaine audience. Gray has been part of past GM cycles, most recently interviewing for the Chargers and Raiders’ jobs. He declined a Patriots interview, joining multiple others, as most correctly predicted Eliot Wolf would remain in charge post-Bill Belichick. Gray will have another opportunity now.

Titans Fire GM Ran Carthon

January 7th, 2025 at 10:54pm CST by Adam La Rose

Ran Carthon is out as the Titans’ general manager after two years. The team announced on Tuesday Carthon has been fired while noting head coach Brian Callahan will be retained.

Tennessee moved on from Jon Robinson late in the 2022 season, his seventh at the helm. Carthon was hired as his replacement, and he faced the task of overseeing a transition to a younger core. One of the central aspects of that effort was the decision to draft quarterback Will Levis, but his time atop the depth chart has not matched expectations. Carthon’s job security was in question leading up to the end of the season, and now the team has indeed moved on.

[RELATED: Titans Fire Assistant GM Anthony Robinson, Others]

“It’s impossible to ignore that our football team hasn’t improved over the past two years,” a statement from owner Amy Adams Strunk reads in part. “I am deeply disappointed in our poor win-loss record during this period, of course, but my decision also speaks to my concern about our long-term future should we stay the course.”

The Titans went 6-11 in Carthon’s first year as GM, which doubled as head coach Mike Vrabel‘s final one in the organization. The latter was dismissed last offseason in a sign Carthon may receive a lengthy opportunity to oversee the Titans’ rebuild. Indeed, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network notes the 43-year-old signed an extension this past offseason, a deal which left him with four years on his contract. Carthon had executive vice president added to his title last January in a move which gave him roster control and a major voice regarding the coaching staff.

Callahan was hired during the 2024 cycle, and his Titans gig represents his first opportunity as a head coach. The former Bengals offensive coordinator was tasked in large part with overseeing Levis’ development, but that process did not go according to plan. Dealing with injuries during the year, the former No. 33 pick was benched late in the campaign and his future in the organization is up in the air. Tennessee finished the year 3-14, leaving the team atop the first-round draft order. The opportunity to add a new franchise QB will add value to the GM vacancy, although the quick hook Carthon has received could give at least some interested candidates pause.

In the meantime, president of football operations Chad Brinker will oversee the search for Carthon’s replacement. The longtime Packers staffer was hired in 2023 and promoted to his current role last offseason. Brinker along with Callahan will be key figures for the organization moving forward, although the team announcement makes it clear Brinker – not the new general manager – will “break ties” when it comes to roster decisions moving forward.

“I think the general manager position is unique to their respective organizations,” Brinker said in a statement. “This particular job, what we’ll be looking for is someone who has spent their career as a scout, is a top-flight, top-level evaluator who has spent the majority of their career projecting college players to the National Football League, they’ve had a major hand in setting the draft board in preferably a consistent, winning organization, and you can see their fingerprints all over the roster.”

With roughly $61MM in projected cap space for this offseason, the Titans are near the top of the NFL in terms of financial flexibility. That, coupled with the No. 1 pick, will be among the attractions for GM candidates in Tennessee. Making major additions at a number of positions will be needed for the team to return to the postseason, something the new hire will have a role in (although clearly the same will be true for Brinker). Finding stability in the front office and on the sidelines represents a key organizational goal for the Titans, and the next step in that process will be another general manager hire.

Titans Fire AGM Anthony Robinson, Other Staffers

January 7th, 2025 at 3:37pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Titans were named as a potential team to watch regarding a front office move, and that proved to be the case on Tuesday. General manager Ran Carthon was fired after two seasons in that role.

As a result, the Titans join the Jets as teams in need of a new GM. Tennessee will lean on president of football operations Chad Brinker to lead the search, and he will have a central role in roster-related decisions moving forward. Other members of the front office staff are also out.

Four staffers have been fired in addition to Carthon, as noted by veteran reporter Paul Kuharsky. The list includes assistant general manager Anthony Robinson, who like Carthon was in place for two years. Robinson was tapped for an AGM role alongside Brinker in May 2023, bringing an end to his time with the Falcons. He joined Atlanta’s staff as a full-time scout in 2011, working his way up to the post of college scouting director in 2019.

Robinson’s stock continued to rise, and in 2021 he interviewed for Atlanta’s general manager position. The Falcons ultimately went with Terry Fontenot, though, which helped explain Robinson’s decision to head elsewhere in relatively short order. After a brief run in Nashville, however, he will once again find himself on the move. It will be interesting to see if he generates interest from the Jets for their GM positing or if he lands another position in a different front office.

As Kuharsky notes, vice president of team operations Brent Akers as well as VP of football technology Anthony Pastrana have also been dismissed. Their respective tenures with the franchise date back to the late 1990s, so their absences will be notable. In addition, senior security director John Albertson has been fired.

Prior to the news of those dismissals, Bovada’s Josina Anderson reported the Titans were expected to add to their personnel department. That will of course be the case now, and Brinker (in tandem with the new general manager, once that hire is made) will have several positions to fill this offseason.

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/6/25

January 6th, 2025 at 7:29pm CST by Ben Levine

With the regular season having come to an end, many teams have started signing players to reserve/futures contracts. This allows organization to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players. Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

January 5th, 2025 at 10:58pm CST by Adam La Rose

Once again, we saw plenty of change occur in the projected draft order after Sunday’s games. Most notably, the Patriots took themselves out of the top overall draft slot with a win over the resting Bills. While this change likely won’t hurt their ability to select one of the players that interested them most, as they likely weren’t looking to select a quarterback with rookie Drake Maye in place, New England likely could’ve benefitted from collecting some serious draft capital trading out of the top spot to any of the teams seeking quarterback help next season.

One of those quarterback-needy teams, the Titans have officially secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, tying for the worst overall record in the league with the Browns and Giants but holding tiebreakers over both franchises. The Browns and Giants, who both secured the second and third overall picks, respectively, today, are also considered top candidates to draft a passer.

With all three teams at the top of the draft interested in adding help at quarterback, the draft’s top two prospects at the position, Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, saw their chances at getting selected No. 1 overall rise dramatically. Plenty could still occur to change this situation; trades could alter the draft order, and further pre-draft evaluations could change opinions on top prospects.

Still, for the first time since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002, there is a chance that every team drafts in the first round, as no first-round picks have yet been traded. It’s extremely unlikely that this will remain the case, as draft-day trades are a very common occurrence, but it’s still an interesting concept to note this close to the draft.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2024 standings — plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule — with playoff squads being slotted by their postseason outcome and regular-season record. Here is how the draft order looks at the regular season’s conclusion:

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

Ely Allen contributed to this post.

Titans Secure No. 1 Pick In 2025 NFL Draft

January 5th, 2025 at 6:18pm CST by Adam La Rose

The early window of NFL action on Sunday decided the order at the top of the draft board for 2025. Week 18’s results have left the Titans in place to select first overall.

Tennessee lost in Houston, leaving the team with a 3-14 record. That mark was matched by the Browns with their loss yesterday as well as the Giants since they lost on Sunday afternoon as well. New York was in the lead for the top spot heading into last week’s action, but a win over the Colts moved the Patriots into pole position entering the final week of the campaign.

Relying mainly on rookie quarterback Joe Milton III, New England won out against a Bills team which rested Josh Allen amongst others since they were locked into the AFC’s No. 2 seed. With that win, the Patriots dropped from first to fourth in the projected order (pending other results from Sunday’s games). As a result, it will be the Titans kicking off the draft in April.

Tennessee made a number of changes this offseason, the most notable of which being the decision to hire Brian Callahan as a first-time head coach. The former Bengals offensive coordinator was tasked with guiding quarterback Will Levis into a long-term solution at the position. Selected 33rd overall in 2023, Levis entered this season as the team’s undisputed starter, but injuries and poor play (especially regarding turnovers) resulted in Mason Rudolph briefly seeing time atop the depth chart. Levis still considers himself a starter with the Titans or another team, but his future is in the air at this point.

Two more year remain on the 25-year-old’s rookie pact, but even if Tennessee elects to keep him in place competition should be expected. That is especially true since Rudolph is on an expiring deal. Free agency will offer plenty of options for a quarterback addition, but holding the No. 1 selection will obviously give the Titans the opportunity to again take the draft route to find a franchise passer. Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward are the highest-ranked QBs in a 2025 class which is not held in high regard.

Well before a decision on the top pick is made, of course, the futures of Callahan and general manager Ran Carthon will need to be sorted out. The latter’s job security could be in question after two years at the helm, but if he is retained by owner Amy Adams Strunk the way he proceeds with the No. 1 pick will be critical. Using it on a quarterback (or another prospect like two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter) would add to the team’s core, but as usual the number of teams looking for a franchise passer will outweigh the availability of qualified QBs. As such, trading down could become feasible based on the trade market which emerges.

A rebound from this season’s showing will be expected for Tennessee in 2025. Today’s outcomes will prove to play a large role in that effort, though, given the team’s prime draft position.

Titans GM Ran Carthon In Danger Of Being Fired; Latest On HC Brian Callahan

January 5th, 2025 at 1:47pm CST by Adam La Rose

As Week 18 of the NFL season continues, several teams near the bottom of the standings are still in contention to land the top pick in the upcoming draft. The Titans are among them, but securing the No. 1 selection could include notable changes in the organization.

Much of the season was predicated on first-time head coach Brian Callahan‘s ability to lead a rebound on offense for Tennessee. In particular, his work in developing quarterback Will Levis was a central point of focus, but things have not gone according to plan on that front.

[RELATED: Titans Secure 2025 No. 1 Overall Pick]

It remains to be seen if a new potential franchise quarterback will be targeted in the offseason as a result, but general manager Ran Carthon may not be charged with overseeing that effort. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes there is “growing chatter” about Carthon being fired after this season. Bovada’s Josina Anderson adds this situation is being monitored by many around the league regarding a potential firing.

Jon Robinson was fired near the end of the 2022 campaign, his seventh at the helm of the Titans. The team sat at 7-5 on the year at that point, and the timing therefore came as a surprise to many. Then-head coach Mike Vrabel was not included in the decision, one which allowed him carry on his role for another season. Amidst indications Carthon and Vrabel were not on the same page, though, the latter was dismissed after the 2023 campaign came to a close.

Callahan was hired to take over coaching duties while working with Carthon to oversee Tennessee’s transition to a younger roster. Several veterans on both sides of the ball saw their Titans tenures end in cost-shedding moves in recent years, leaving the new regime with a long-term rebuilding project. Still, Tennessee’s record entering Sunday’s action (9-24) under Carthon leaves plenty to be desired. Attention will thus turn to owner Amy Adams Strunk over the coming days.

Meanwhile, Callahan’s future will of course remain uncertain until he receives a vote of confidence from ownership. The former Bengals offensive coordinator was the subject of a recent report indicating he should be safe, though, and further signs point in that direction. ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted on this morning’s NFL Countdown Callahan should remain in place for 2025, although that is not certain at this point (video link). Schefter cautions, however, that some in the Titans’ organization are expecting significant changes of some kind in the wake of a disappointing year.

Whether or not that includes moves in the front office or along the sidelines will be interesting to monitor in the immediate future. A number of major roster-building decisions loom this spring for the Titans, but before that the team’s coaching and management staff could see replacements brought in.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/4/25

January 4th, 2025 at 9:47pm CST by Ely Allen

The last minor moves and standard gameday elevations of the 2024 NFL regular season:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Ross’ new deal to the Texans’ 53-man roster is good through the 2025 season, as well. Ditto for Jones, signed to the active roster in New England today.

Sanders returned to practice this week, and his activation will allow him to close out his second Panthers season on the field rather than on the mend. His Carolina tenure has fallen well short of expectations and a release in the near future could be in the cards. Given the team’s backfield injuries, though, Sanders could handle a notable workload tomorrow while potentially auditioning for free agent suitors.

Gilman’s return will be welcomed by the Chargers’ defense. The 27-year-old has remained a full-time starter this season, his second straight handling first-team duties. Los Angeles is assured of a wild-card spot, but moving up to the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoff picture could be possible on Sunday. In any case, Gilman’s presence will be key for a Bolts defense which leads the league in points allowed per game (17.6).

Gardner’s campaign will come to an end after 15 games played. He fell short of a Pro Bowl nod for this first time in his young career, but the fourth pick of the 2022 draft remained a critical member of the team’s secondary when healthy. Gardner is eligible for an extension this offseason, and his financial future (which will include a fifth-year option decision in the spring) will be a key point of focus once New York’s head coach/general manager tandem is in place.

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