Tennessee Titans

With $74.0M in cap room ranked second in the league and just $3.8M in dead money, the Titans have the financial firepower to overhaul this roster aggressively, though committed money surges to $278.7M next season, so spending must be targeted.

20 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Eight starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Seven picks in the next draft cycle, all in the first round, along with three first-rounders over the next three years and 21 total picks in that window, give this rebuild a rare level of draft ammunition to accelerate the transition.

The roster's clearest strength is its young defensive secondary anchored by Cor'Dale Flott, Kevin Winston Jr., and Cedric Gray, while the biggest weakness is an offensive line that is below average or worse at every position except left guard and right tackle.

• Chigh

  Austin Schlottmann starts at center and ranks 30th at the position, with the depth behind him offering little comfort at just 21st overall.

• DThigh

  John Franklin-Myers leads a tackle group ranked 24th at the starter level and dead last in depth across the entire league.

• FShigh

  Kevin Winston Jr. starts at free safety despite ranking 29th at the position, making this one of the most urgent holes on the roster.

• LThigh

  Dan Moore Jr. holds the starting spot but ranks 31st at left tackle, making this the weakest position on an already shaky offensive line.

• QBhigh

  Cam Ward is the starter at 73 overall and ranks 31st at the position, meaning the franchise pivot at quarterback is the single most critical task ahead.

• RGhigh

  Fernando Carmona Jr. starts at right guard at 70 overall and ranks 30th at the position, with thin and unproven depth behind him.

• TEhigh

  Gunnar Helm starts at tight end and Tennessee ranks dead last, 32nd, at the position at the starter level, making it the deepest positional void on offense.

• CBmedium

  Cor'Dale Flott leads a corner group ranked 24th at the starter level, with Joshua Williams and Jaylon Jones offering middling depth.

• MIKEmedium

  Cody Barton holds the starting MIKE role but ranks 25th at the position, though Anthony Hill Jr. waiting behind him with a Star dev trait gives the position a credible succession path.

• REDGEmedium

  Oluwafemi Oladejo starts on the right edge ahead of Jermaine Johnson II, and the group as a whole ranks 25th at the starter level.

• WRmedium

  The receiving corps ranks 26th at the starter level despite Wan'Dale Robinson's 82 overall, reflecting how thin the group becomes past the top two.

• LEDGElow

  Keldric Faulk starts at left edge at 78 overall and ranks 23rd at the position, which is the least pressing need among the edge spots.

• 65Mitchell TrubiskyQBMitchell Trubisky is a 65 overall backup behind Cam Ward, and cutting him frees $1.4M while carrying only $2.8M in dead money, making the savings modest but the roster spot valuable for a developmental addition.Frees $1.4M · $2.8M dead
• 76Jermaine Johnson IIREDGEJermaine Johnson II backs up Oluwafemi Oladejo at right edge and cutting him is a clean release that frees $13.4M with zero dead money, making him the single highest-value cut on the roster.Frees $13.4M · $0 dead
• 57Milo EiflerMIKEMilo Eifler is a 57 overall third-string MIKE with no dead money attached, and releasing him frees $600K while clearing a spot for Anthony Hill Jr. to take a more prominent developmental role.Frees $600.0K · $0 dead
• 63James Hudson IIILTJames Hudson III is the backup left tackle at 63 overall behind Dan Moore Jr., and his release frees $1.1M with no dead money while the team already carries Peter Skoronski as a depth swing option.Frees $1.1M · $0 dead
• 62David Martin-RobinsonTEDavid Martin-Robinson is a 62 overall third tight end listed at fullback on the depth chart, and cutting him frees $1.1M with zero dead money at a position that is already a league-wide weakness requiring real investment.Frees $1.1M · $0 dead

The Titans enter this franchise cycle with the bones of a rebuild rather than a contending roster. Cam Ward is the franchise quarterback at 73 overall with a Star dev trait, and his development is the single variable that will determine how quickly this team can compete. Around him, the offensive line is a project: Dan Moore Jr. ranks 31st at left tackle, the center and right guard spots are similarly bottom-tier, and only Peter Skoronski at left guard and JC Latham at right tackle give genuine confidence up front. The receiving corps has upside in Wan'Dale Robinson and young Star dev wideouts Carnell Tate and Chimere Dike, but the tight end group ranks last in the league. Defensively, Cor'Dale Flott and Cedric Gray are young cornerstones, Keldric Faulk is a 21-year-old Star edge with a bright future, and Kevin Winston Jr. is a 22-year-old Star free safety who could develop into a difference-maker. Tony Pollard and Calvin Ridley bring veteran presence but are entering the later stages of their careers, and the plan cannot depend on either of them deep into the five-year arc. With $74.0M in cap room ranked second in the league, the resources to upgrade are real, and seven picks this cycle, including three first-rounders over the next three years, give the rebuild meaningful ammunition. The path forward is clear: develop Ward, rebuild the offensive line through free agency and the draft, and let the young defensive core grow into a competitive unit.

The franchise was founded in 1959-60 by oilman K.S. "Bud" Adams as the Houston Oilers, one of eight charter members of the upstart American Football League (AFL), beginning play in 1960 at Houston's Jeppesen Stadium. Behind quarterback George Blanda and Heisman winner Billy Cannon, the Oilers were the AFL's first dynasty, winning the league's first two championships in 1960 and 1961 and reaching a third straight title game in 1962. After the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, Houston endured lean years before the beloved "Luv Ya Blue" era of the late 1970s, powered by Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell and coach Bum Phillips, reaching consecutive AFC Championship Games (1978, 1979). The Warren Moon era (1984-1993) produced a high-flying run-and-shoot offense and seven straight playoff berths (1987-1993) but no conference title, and included the infamous 1993 playoff collapse, when the Oilers blew a 35-3 lead to Buffalo. Amid stadium disputes, Adams relocated the team to Tennessee in 1997, playing as the Tennessee Oilers in Memphis (1997) and at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville (1998) before renaming to the Tennessee Titans in 1999. The 1999 Titans, led by QB Steve McNair, RB Eddie George, and coach Jeff Fisher, went 13-3 and made a magical playoff run featuring the "Music City Miracle," reaching Super Bowl XXXIV, where they fell 23-16 to the St. Louis Rams, stopped one yard short on the final play ("The Tackle"). The Titans have since had strong stretches, including six straight winning seasons 2016-2021 under Mike Vrabel with Derrick Henry, but slid into a rebuild in the mid-2020s, bottoming out with consecutive 3-14 finishes in 2024 and 2025.