Draft Day Shocker: A.J. Brown Traded

General manager Jon Robinson doubles his number of picks in the first three rounds of the 2022 NFL draft by shipping out his leading receiver each of the last three years.

NASHVILLE – Jon Robinson never said he could see into the future.

When asked last week about whether the Tennessee Titans might trade wide receiver, the general manager replied, “I do not foresee that happening.”

Thursday, during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Titans dealt Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles. In return, they got the 18th overall selection along with a third-round pick (No. 101).

Tennessee used No. 18 to select wide receiver Treylon Burks, a wide receiver out of Arkansas, who often was compared to Brown in the run-up to the draft.

“I got a phone call and it was from Tennessee, just looked at it and I thought, ‘Wow, this is crazy,’” Burks said. “I had looked on Instagram afterwards and I saw that they had traded (Brown) to the Eagles.

“… That was one of my dreams – to also play with him. But also, I’m going to do what I do and just go out there and play football.”

Shortly thereafter, the Titans traded No. 101 along with their original first-round pick (No. 26) to the New York Jets for a second-round pick (No. 35), a third-round pick (No. 69) and a fifth-round pick (No. 133).

The moves increased to 10 the number of picks they have in this year's draft, which continues Friday and Saturday. That includes four in the first 90 selections. At the start of the proceedings, they had seven overall and two of the first 90.

Brown, a second-round pick in 2019, led the Titans in receiving each of his first three years in the league. Overall, he has 185 catches for 2,995 yards and 24 touchdowns overall. He is tied for 10th in the league in receiving touchdowns, 11th in yards per reception (16.2) and 17th in receiving yards over that span.

He has one year remaining on his initial contract and failed to report for the start of offseason conditioning program because he wanted a contract extension done. He reportedly got what he wanted from the Eagles in the form of a four-year, $100 million extension with $57 million guaranteed.

"We had discussions back and forth," general manager Jon Robinson said. "(We) got to a spot where we really realized it was going to be kind of hard to get a deal done, and the trade thing kind of manifested itself from (Brown's representatives). We really started working on that probably in the last 18-20 hours, and it came together pretty quickly (Thursday) afternoon.

"We wish him nothing but the best."

Brown wanted a massive contract extension from the Titans with a year left on his deal and didn’t receive it. He didn’t attended voluntary workouts and stopped communicating with the team, per sources
The Titans made an offer, but it wasn’t enough for Brown, now he’s an Eagle!

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) April 29, 2022

This is the seventh year that Robinson has been in charge of Tennessee's draft, and the fourth in which he has made at least one trade in the first round. In 2016, he traded out of the No. 1 spot and dropped back to No. 15 only to trade back up to No. 8, where he selected Jack Conklin. In 2017, the Titans had two picks in the top 18, the extra (No. 5 overall) courtesy of the deal a year earlier with the Los Angeles Rams for No. 1 overall. In 2018, Robinson jumped from No. 25 to No. 22 in order to select inside linebacker Rashaan Evans.

In each of the last three drafts, he made his first-round pick as it was scheduled. 

"It's really the draft capital that's involved," Robinson said when asked about his latest deal. "You get a return on the trade with the ability to pick players in this draft. 

"That's really kind of what dictated the timing of the deal."

And it was not long before Brown's replacement was on the roster.

“Actually, my high school coach said it (Thursday) morning that the Titans were going to get me,” Burks said. “I didn’t believe him at the time. But then, once I got the call, it was like, ‘This dude was right.’

“… I’ve kind of mimicked myself on certain things after (Brown). It’s just an honor.”