Going into the offseason, addressing offensive line and wide receiver were the biggest priorities for the Tennessee Titans, but the team has been dead silent in adding to the latter area.
Several wide receivers have come off the board in free agency, but the Titans didn’t sign any of them, leaving the team in the dire situation it entered the offseason in.
While the wide receiver market wasn’t great this year, pretty much any of the ones who have signed with teams would’ve provided an upgrade for a unit that was arguably the worst in the NFL in 2022.
On that front, general manager Ran Carthon said the Titans aren’t trying to fill all their needs in free agency but remains open to that approach when it comes to wide receiver, and he said the team needs to “exercise patience” in its search.
“We are going to look to address it,” Carthon said, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. “We are not trying to fill everything via free agency, but if that’s where the best option comes from, we’ll address it that way. We just have to be patient, and exercise patience and allow that to come to fruition.”
As far as those receivers under contract are concerned, Carthon said he is “excited” about the “young, promising” group, and specifically mentioned Treylon Burks, Kyle Philips and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
“I like that group,” Carthon said. “I think it’s a young, promising group. I am really excited to see what a healthy Kyle can do. I think he put some really impressive snaps together in the slot. I think Treylon’s best ball is ahead of him. And I am also excited to see what a healthy Nick can do. He played the majority of the year on that knee injury, and just a testament to his toughness, his grit, he finished it out.
“I am excited about this young group.”
I really hope this is not an indication that the Titans have a somewhat big role planned for Westbrook-Ikhine, who proved he’s nothing more than a bottom-half-of-the-depth-chart receiver in 2022.
The Titans’ inaction at the position is among the most disappointing things of the offseason. From the jump, I have been of the opinion the team would add at least one veteran and one draft pick, but options for the former have dwindled to nearly nothing.
With the signing of Andre Dillard, who is expected to play left tackle, the Titans do have more flexibility to take a wideout at No. 11 overall if they deem one worthy.
And, if this inaction continues, I think it’s more likely than not that they do.