When the Tennessee Titans traded Jurrell Casey to the Denver Broncos in what amounted to a salary dump earlier this offseason, it bordered on shocking, but we always figured general manager Jon Robinson had something else up his sleeve for the money saved.
However, after nearly six months had passed and the Titans didn’t sign an impact player to replace Casey, the move was beginning to look like a major blunder, as Tennessee’s defense was no doubt worse off than it was in 2019.
After all, Casey was a defensive stalwart for the Titans for nearly a decade and one of the better players at his position in the NFL. Adding to that, he became a fan-favorite during his tenure in Nashville.
But now that the Titans have added Jadeveon Clowney to upgrade their pass-rush, the Casey trade is fully justified.
Clowney doesn’t just bring an impressive skill set at EDGE, he can also be lined up on the defensive front alongside DaQuan Jones and Jeffery Simmons, just like Casey was in 2019. That kind of versatility alone makes the Titans’ defense better.
Also consider that Clowney is an elite run defender and a disruptive force in the pass-rush (he has the second-best Pass Rush Win Rate in the NFL the past two seasons) and you can start to see why the Titans preferred him over keeping Casey.
One of the biggest goals for the Titans this offseason was to improve their defense and pass-rush so that it could compete with a team like the Kansas City Chiefs, who Tennessee lost to in the AFC Championship Game last season because of its in ability to get to Patrick Mahomes.
Clowney, along with Harold Landry and the addition of Vic Beasley, puts the Titans in a much better position to do that than they would have been had the team opted to keep Casey and not go after Clowney.
