Sad news: The Tennessee Titans have just Fired one of their best player
Nashville Let’s be clear about a few things right away: AJ Brown is gone and unlikely to return, so anyone in the national media who feels the need to use that to publicly humiliate the Tennessee Titans ought to move on.
No, I’m not offering an explanation or justifying one of the worst decisions this franchise has ever made. But in retaliation, general manager Jon Robinson was fired by Amy Adams-Strunk, who addressed the root of the disastrous decision to trade Brown.
Now that Brown—who has developed into one of the NFL’s best wide receivers—and the man who dealt him are no longer with us, Robinson is unable to enter the general manager’s office located inside St. Thomas Sports Park.
Taking over for the deposed former general manager, Ran Carthon was tasked with cleaning up the mess caused by the Brown trade and the inability to add more players than just Treylon Burks to a position group in need of more support.
DeAndre Hopkins’ decision to sign with the Titans was revealed on Sunday, giving the offense and receiver room another much-needed weapon.
Former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi criticized the Titans on his radio show on Monday for the signing of Hopkins and the trade of Brown. Some of his points made sense, but one was just stupid.
It is ridiculous that he claims the Titans were similar to the Three Stooges in the well-known fishing boat skit. Robinson would still be here if that were the case, and the Titans were attempting to empty the boat by making another hole in it.
Carthon was left to close the hole that Robinson made, and there’s no indication that the people in charge of this franchise aren’t making an effort to plug the leak.
Regarding Lombardi, he worked for several NFL teams as an upper-level manager and scout, although he was a member of the Cleveland Browns for the majority of his tenure.
He worked as a scout for San Francisco for three seasons before moving to Cleveland (87-89). There, he remained a scout for three more seasons before being promoted to director of pro player personnel (89–93). Later on (93–95), he was elevated to the position of director of player personnel.
As the relics from the previous regimes were cleared out, the Browns went from 12-4 in 1986 to 10-5 in 1987 and 10-6 in 1988, while Lombardi was in Cleveland.
When Lombardi was a member of the Browns’ upper-level 48 management from 1989 to 1995, the team’s record was a combined 48-63, with only one winning season (1994) in that span.
Lombardi left Cleveland and worked for Philadelphia, Oakland, and Denver before coming back to Cleveland in 1993 to take up the position of general manager.
The Browns finished 23-25 under his direction before he was fired, and Ray Farmer took over as head coach after the 1995 season.
As a member of the media, Lombardi has chosen to criticize the Titans in this instance, and he has some valid points.
The Titans are not, nor have they ever been, the best-managed team in the NFL. Though there have been some poor decisions and foolish actions, this team has a cumulative record of 69-66, with two losing seasons and six winning ones since Adams-Strunk became the team’s controlling owner.
Even though those figures aren’t particularly impressive, they are still better than those of Lombardi, who managed the Browns for two winning seasons and five losing ones.
Additionally, bear in mind that Lombardi participated in the selection process, spending time in the general manager’s chair overseeing the roster-building process by the lake, but Adams-Strunk chose the individuals to make that decision on her behalf.
Given that they had a chance to pay and keep Brown, there’s no denying that the trade was as bad as it got. Hopkins, who is not as good as Brown at this stage of their careers, was the best addition Carthon could have made while clearing up the mess that was left for him.
Hopkins is still a great, capable player who can contribute to this team even though his career is nearing its end rather than its beginning, and his cost was not nearly as much as Brown’s.
We can argue over the details of the two contracts and quantify things, but that doesn’t really matter right now because Lombardi is entitled to his opinion, no matter how ridiculous or incorrect it may be. What is done is done.
Stories Connected to the Titans
Not ideal for Hassan Hawkins’ future with the Titans is his arrest and pending court date. The fact that Hassan Haskins was arrested and has a court date coming up doesn’t help him with the team; in fact, his court date is one day after the final roster cuts are scheduled to occur.
Sports Illustrated/FanNation’s Greg Arias covers the Tennessee Titans for AllTitans.com. Since 2000, he has covered the NFL for a number of publications.
