The Tennessee Titans are firing general manager Jon Robinson, which was first reported by Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Jim Wyatt of the Titans official site confirmed the firing and revealed VP of player personnel, Ryan Cowden, will take over for Robinson for the remainder of the 2022 season.
Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk released a statement on the firing of Robinson, who was signed to a multi-year extension this past February.
“Since becoming controlling owner in 2015, my goal has been to raise the standard for what is expected in all facets of our organization. I believe we have made significant progress both on and off the field through investments in leadership, personnel and new ideas. This progress includes the core of our business, the football team itself, which is regularly evaluated both by results (wins and losses) and team construction/roster building. I am proud of what we have accomplished in my eight seasons of ownership, but I believe there is more to be done and higher aspirations to be met.
“I want to thank Jon for his dedicated work to set this organization on an upward trajectory and I wish him and his family the best.”
Robinson had been the Titans’ general manager since the 2016 season and never experienced a losing campaign.
Tennessee also notched a pair of division titles and made four trips to the playoffs, one of which ended in the AFC Championship Game during the 2019 season.
However, the Titans weren’t able to build on that 2019 run and have been one-and-done in the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, including in 2021 when they were the No. 1 seed.
The Titans are 7-5 and in first place in the AFC South, but Tennessee has lost two straight games and just got toasted by the former Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown and his new team, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Trading Brown was arguably the biggest blemish on Robinson’s record, and it would appear Brown showing out against his old team was the nail in the coffin, although that hasn’t been confirmed.
Of course, it wasn’t all bad for Robinson, who helped transform the Titans with some great draft picks like Derrick Henry and Kevin Byard, and even more so with an incredible 2019 draft class that included more franchise cornerstones like Brown and Jeffery Simmons.
But Robinson’s luster began wearing off in the last few years with some poor draft classes, trades and free-agent signings that simply haven’t panned out for the most part.
He was definitely on the hot seat thanks to some of his recent failures, like the aforementioned draft classes, the trade of Brown, not adequately addressing the offensive line for 2022, etc.
But it’s shocking that he was relieved of his duties during the season. Hopefully we get more details soon.