Tennessee Titans

A.J. Brown isn't happy with how the Tennessee Titans handled things after trading him to the Philadelphia Eagles in April.

Speaking to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero (h/t NFL.com's Kevin Patra), Brown made it clear he wasn't upset about the trade "because it's a business," but he "didn't appreciate how it all went down, and they just kind of blamed me for it."

Leading up to the draft, there were rumblings that Brown could be on the move. Mike Vrabel seemed to squash that notion when he said on the April 7 edition of The Rich Eisen Show that the 25-year-old wouldn't be traded "as long as I'm the head coach."

While Vrabel didn't get fired as Titans head coach during the draft, general manager Jon Robinson made the decision to trade Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles for the No. 18 overall pick.

"At the end of the day, we have to make—I have to make—the hard decisions," Robinson told reporters about the trade. "And there's a lot of things that impact those decisions. Certainly, the finances impact the decisions and trying to get value when we can. And that's the decision we made today."

Brown told ESPN's Turron Davenport after the trade he "wanted to stay" with the Titans, but the contract extension they offered "wasn't even $20 million a year."

The Eagles gave Brown a four-year, $100 million extension with $57 million guaranteed. He was part of the now-storied wide receivers from the 2019 draft, along with Deebo Samuel, Terry McLaurin, DK Metcalf and Diontae Johnson.

Samuel, McLaurin, Metcalf and Johnson have all received extensions this offseason with the team that drafted them. (Johnson agreed to a two-year, $36.71 million deal on Thursday, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.)

The Titans' loss figures to be Philadelphia's gain. Brown has been one of the best receivers in the NFL over the past three seasons. The Ole Miss alum racked up 2,995 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns on 185 receptions in 43 games since 2019.

The Eagles will be counting on Brown to be their No. 1 receiver, but he won't be asked to carry the load all by himself. DeVonta Smith will play on the opposite side of the field. Jalen Hurts threw for 3,144 yards and ran for 784 yards in 15 starts last season.

With WWE's SummerSlam pay-per-view in their backyard, Tennessee Titans stars Derrick Henry and Taylor Lewan hoped to be part of the show, according to Pat McAfee.

McAfee said Monday that Henry and Lewan reached out before the event and asked if he wanted to involve them in his singles match against Happy Corbin.

The former NFL punter and current WWE commentator lamented that neither player stepped over the barricade to become involved.

Both Henry and Lewan at least had great seats for SummerSlam, which took place Saturday at Nissan Stadium, the Titans' home venue.

This wouldn't have been the first time the worlds of the NFL and WWE overlapped at a major PPV.

Rob Gronkowski, then with the New England Patriots, attacked Jinder Mahal and helped his friend Mojo Rawley win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.

Luckily for McAfee, he didn't need the services of Henry or Lewan as he picked up the win over Corbin.

After San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel reportedly received a three-year, $71.6 million contract extension Sunday, Philadelphia Eagles wideout A.J. Brown took a shot at his former team on social media.

Brown, who received a four-year, $100 million extension when he was traded from the Tennessee Titans to Philadelphia, dismissed the notion that he was the problem in Tennessee:

Brown likely felt the urge to say something because he's faced waves of criticism from disgruntled Titans fans online throughout the 2022 offseason. Prior to being traded on the night of the NFL draft, Brown expressed his frustration with Tennessee fans who called him out for skipping the team's offseason workouts while awaiting a new contract.

Even after his departure from the Titans, Brown has not held back in addressing fans who troll him online. He declared himself to be "the best receiver to play for [the] franchise" last month while responding to a disparaging tweet.

Brown established himself as one of the best young receivers in the NFL, recording over 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons in the league. A chest injury limited him to 13 games in 2021, and he finished with 63 catches for 869 yards and five touchdowns. The Titans, who had the best record in the AFC at 12-5, were 11-2 in the games Brown played.

Now with the Eagles, Brown is expected to have a similar impact on a team hoping to compete for a division title. The 25-year-old should see a ton of volume as the top target of young quarterback Jalen Hurts, and he should open up opportunities for second-year wideout DeVonta Smith.

One of the last remaining unsigned picks from the 2022 NFL draft is finally under contract.

The Tennessee Titans announced Saturday that Malik Willis has signed his four-year rookie deal.

Per Spotrac, the contract value for the No. 86 pick is $5.2 million with a $932,800 signing bonus.

Saturday marked the first day for Titans rookies to report to training camp. Veterans will join them Tuesday.

Willis was the last remaining unsigned player from Tennessee's draft class. There are still nine players who have yet to agree to terms on their rookie deals, including second-round picks David Ojabo (Baltimore Ravens), Jaquan Brisker (Carolina Panthers) and Andrew Booth Jr. (Minnesota Vikings).

Matt Corral, who was selected eight picks after Willis at No. 94 overall by the Carolina Panthers, is the only unsigned quarterback from the 2022 draft.

Going into the draft, there was speculation that Willis could be the first quarterback off the board and potentially a top-10 pick. The 23-year-old was a bit of an unknown by virtue of making his name as the starting quarterback at Liberty.

Willis did show off his tremendous skill set during his two-year stint with the Flames. He threw for 5,107 yards, ran for 1,822 yards and accounted for 74 touchdowns (47 passing, 27 rushing) in 23 starts from 2020-21.

Given the uncertainty around many of the quarterbacks in this year's draft class, several teams were able to take advantage of the board by getting them later than expected before the first round began.

Kenny Pickett was the only signal-caller taken in Round 1 (No. 20 by the Pittsburgh Steelers). It marked the first time since 2013 that only one quarterback was taken on Day 1 of the draft.

The Titans ultimately moved up in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders to select Willis with the 22nd pick in the third round.

Coming off a 12-5 record last season, Ryan Tannehill figures to remain Tennessee's starting quarterback for the entire 2022 campaign. The 33-year-old is signed through 2023, but the Titans could save $17.8 million against the cap if he is released or traded after this season.

Willis' raw potential makes him an intriguing option to eventually become the Titans' starting quarterback. He may not get an opportunity to take the reins in 2022, but offensive coordinator Todd Downing could find ways to use his arm strength and running ability in certain packages.

Former Liberty Flames quarterback Malik Willis is taking steps to get himself ready for the possibility he takes over as the starter for the Tennessee Titans.

Per ESPN's Turron Davenport, Willis has been working "extensively" with Titans quarterbacks coach Pat O'Hara since the draft to "make adjustments to his mechanics to improve accuracy."

The 22-year-old was selected by the Titans in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft and could be the successor to Ryan Tannehill.

Willis transferred to Liberty after two seasons at Auburn and completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 2,857 yards and 27 touchdowns against 12 interceptions during the 2021 campaign. He also rushed for 878 yards and 13 scores.

Willis' strengths are in his speed, arm strength, ability to extend plays and avoid sacks. However, he has weaknesses in throwing the ball deep and consistency with his ball placement, according to NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah:

"Willis has a long way to go in his development, but his arm strength, athleticism and competitiveness create a unique foundation to build on. He needs time to clean up the areas mentioned above, but his impact as a runner will be felt as soon as he steps foot on the field. He is borderline unstoppable on designed QB runs in the red zone. He can pick up those tough yards on QB draws, sweeps or zone reads. He can use his speed to capture the edge or use his strength to run through tackles or carry defenders for several yards."

Jeremiah also noted that the Atlanta native has a similar skill set to Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints QB Taysom Hill.

While Willis will be held to a high standard and undoubtedly face a lot of pressure when he eventually gets on the field, Robert Woods, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Treylon Burks, Austin Hooper and Derrick Henry can help him shoulder the load.

Davenport did note it would take either "injury or some kind of catastrophic failure" from Tannehill this season for Willis to have any chance of being the starter when this season begins.

There also seems to be a strong probability that Willis doesn't start at all in 2022 because the Titans are still trying to compete for a playoff spot. They did lose a key piece of the offense when A.J. Brown was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles during the draft.

Treylon Burks, who was used with the No. 18 pick they received in the Brown deal, will have the difficult task of immediately stepping in as the No. 1 receiver. The Titans also added Woods, who tore his ACL in November, in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams.

There's no reason for the Titans to rush Willis onto the field as a starter. His speed and athleticism could get him into games for certain rushing packages, but Tannehill has done enough during his three years with the team to warrant being the starter for one more season.

The Titans finished last season as the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a 12-5 record. They lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 19-16, in the AFC divisional round.

Derrick Henry seemed open to an extension with the Tennessee Titans when asked about the situation Tuesday:

"If that's what the future holds, then yeah, that'd be great," Henry said of a possible new deal.

Henry has two seasons remaining on his initial four-year, $50 million deal he signed in 2020, and he has shown little sign of slowing down when on the field.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported last month the Titans are "at least open to a possible new deal" that could extend the contract while lowering the cap hits in coming years. He has a $15 million cap hit in 2022 and $15.5 million cap hit in 2023, per Spotrac

A foot injury limited Henry to eight games last season, but he was dominant when healthy with 937 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns during the regular season. His 117.1 yards per game would have easily led the NFL had he qualified for the leaderboard, while he still finished ninth in the league in rushing yards even in less than half a season.

The running back was seemingly less than full strength when he returned for the playoffs, but he still helped his team with 62 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 30 offensive snaps in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The injury prevented Henry from winning a third straight rushing title, one of which came in the 2020 season when he tallied 2,027 yards on the ground, fifth most in NFL history. He added 17 touchdowns that season and was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year.

Over the past four years, the 28-year-old has averaged 101.1 rushing yards per game and posted 55 rushing touchdowns in 55 contests.

It's clear the Titans want to keep that production as they look to extend their window of contention. It could also provide future stability if 2022 third-round pick Malik Willis eventually takes over as the starting quarterback.