Tyler's Take: The REAL Reason Behind Titans' Interest in Trading Up to No. 1

There are rumors floating around that the Tennessee Titans are interested in trading up to the first overall pick. But the reason for calling the Chicago Bears for a trade may not be as obvious as it seems, according to AllTitans.com writer Tyler Rowland.

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans were connected to a rumor over the weekend that indicates they may have interest in trading up to the first pick in the draft. 

The Chicago Bears, who own the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, have a quarterback they want to build around in Justin Fields, so it is only logical they would be motivated to find a trade partner who wants to select their quarterback of the future.

From the Titans perspective, you can see why they would be one of the teams calling the Bears about a move up the board. The Titans need a young QB to build around, Ryan Tannehill is one of the most expensive passers in the league despite not being one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL talent-wise.

With new general manager Ran Carthon taking the reins, he may be interested in starting off his tenure with a quarterback that he hand-picks. All those reasons seem valid on first glance, but may not be the REAL reason the Titans would have contacted Chicago. 

You may need to go a bit deeper to find the true motive. 

To unpeel the layers of this logic onion, we first must think about who would make sense as trade partners for the Bears. Obviously, teams who want to draft their quarterbacks of the future would be first in line. The first two teams that pop out are the Houston Texans, who have the No. 2 overall pick, and the Indianapolis Colts, who sit at No. 4. Those also happen to be two teams in the AFC South with the Titans. 

If you are new Titans general manager Ran Carthon and you know two of your division rivals want something desperately, wouldn’t it make sense to drive up the price for the first pick even if you yourself are not truly interested. Think of it like an auction. Ran Carthon is holding up his sign after each opposing bid knowing the other bidders will do more and go higher to secure what they want. 

Carthon could genuinely be interested in trading up to No. 1. He is a new GM who may want to start his Titans career with a quarterback that he selected and believes in. If that is the case, then of course he would make the call to Chicago to begin that negotiations. Also, there is nothing wrong with getting a sense of what the price would be and then using that as baseline information for other deals as well. Quite frankly, that is his job.

More than likely though, with the Titans sitting at pick No. 11, the price to move up is going to be quite a bit higher than jumping up from the second or fourth picks. Which leads us back to the bidding war example. Whether Carthon actually wants to trade up or is just trying to get a quote on what it would cost to do so, publicly showing interest can only stand to help the Titans gather information, with the added benefit of driving up the price on your division rivals.

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