The Tennessee Titans seem content to move on from Treylon Burks if the disappointing first-round pick does not pick up his play in 2025.
The Titans announced Thursday they would not pick up the wide receiver’s fifth-year option, which could make him a free agent after the season.
Burks, who Tennessee chose from Arkansas with the 18th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, was slated to make about $15.5 million in 2025 if the Titans picked up his option. But the oft-injured wideout had just four catches for 34 yards in five games during the 2024 season before he was placed on injured reserve after sustaining a knee injury in practice.
Burks has been placed on injured reserve three times in his three-season NFL career. When he has played, he has just 53 catches for 699 yards and one touchdown in 27 games.
A lopsided deal
The Titans acquired the No. 18 pick in the 2022 draft from the Philadelphia Eagles for frustrated former wideout A.J. Brown. They chose Burks, the consensus fifth wideout in that year’s draft, in part to replace the hole Brown left — ahead of receivers like George Pickens, Christian Watson, Alec Pierce and others.
Tennessee also picked up a third-rounder from the Eagles, which it then flipped to the Jets for three selections.
Still, none of those picks were even remotely as valuable as Brown, who has been the missing link to Philadelphia’s offense. Brown has three straight 1,000-plus-yard seasons and earned three straight second-team All-Pro honorees while helping the Eagles make the playoffs three straight years and play in two Super Bowls.
Brown has twice surpassed the 1,400-yard threshold in a single season, including the 2022 season, where he finished ninth in MVP voting and reached the Super Bowl. He is coming off a 1,079-yard, seven-touchdown campaign, and even though that was the worst season of his Eagles tenure, it still resulted in Philadelphia’s second Super Bowl win.
Meanwhile, Burks has fewer career yards than Brown had in his first eight games with the Eagles, and the Titans have fewer wins (17) than Brown has touchdowns (25) since the trade.
In part due to the trade, general manager Jon Robinson was fired in December 2022 and replaced by Ran Carthon. Coach Mike Vrabel was also let go after the 2023 season and replaced by Brian Callahan, meaning neither the coach nor manager that selected him is still in the organization.
So you’re telling me a chance
Burks may be on the way out of Tennessee, but he still has one more season to earn a contract — whether that’s in Nashville or somewhere else.
Callahan, when asked about Burks, offered the opportunity for him to make an impact for the Titans.
“He’s got to come in and make some plays,” the head coach told Titan Insider. “I think he’s always had the ability, and he’s shown flashes of it, but we’re just looking for the consistency to show up when it’s time to show up.”
Burks still should open the training camp as a starter for the Titans, but if he struggles they have other options. Tennssee added Tyler Lockett and Van Jefferson via free agency, and it also drafted Chimere Dike from Florida and Elic Ayomanor of Stanford last weekend.
“The receiver positions is going to be really competitive, I think, from top to bottom with the veterans we’ve brought in and the young players as well,” Callahan said.
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