The Tennessee Titans’ first signing came when they fired Mike Vrabel after another poor season and then without wasting any time hired Brian Callahan. While they have made some great signings this offseason such as Sneed, Ridley, etc, and have approached the draft well, however, one of their recent draft signings has raised some eyebrows. John Middlekauff and Colin Cowherd, for one, can’t fathom why the Titans still drafted him.
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During the latest episode of Colin Cowherd’s podcast, Cowherd and Middlekauff discussed and graded the team’s performance in the 2024 Draft and feel they can’t wrap their head around the Tennessee signing T’Vondre Sweat, despite his questionable off-field behavior. Colin asserted that the Titans need players who can keep their heads down and just perform on the field.
The Titans still drafted him, and that too in the 2nd round. He feels it’s all going to go downhill for the former Texas Tackle in Nashville, which Middlekauf considers a party town, similar to New Orleans or Vegas. He is boggled by the fact that Tennessee already had a similar issue in the past, so why would they want to repeat that, especially when they had just hired a new young HC? The Titans lack a sense of purpose and direction, which is reflected in their picking a guy with consistent character issues. Middlekauff said,
” I am not some moral high horse. We’ve all made mistakes when we were young. But there were a lot of question marks with this guy’s drinking and he admitted it to the teams. And then three weeks before the draft, he gets a DUI on Sunday afternoon. He was off draft boards. I have been to Nashville twice. I drank every single day when I was there. It is a party town. When you just had a character issue a couple of years ago and this guy literally got a DUI a month ago and you already knew those question marks and you have a brand new HC, why would screw with this.”
The Titans drafted a Defensive Tackle T’Vondre Sweat in the 2nd round with their 38th overall pick. A top defensive prospect throughout the season, Sweat was arrested on a charge suspicion of driving while intoxicated a few weeks before the draft began. The brother of the Eagles D-Linemen Josh Sweat, he was then released on a $3000 bond.
Middlekauff feels when a team hires a new coach, they need everything to go smoothly. Signing Sweat is just the opposite of that. He asserted that he doesn’t mind players making mistakes or even enjoying themselves, but with Sweat, there were red flags about his drinking problem, something he had already admitted to in the past, and his getting a DUI was the final nail in the coffin for him. The teams had already crossed him off their draft boards.
While the Sweat signing seems questionable, the Titans have been busy this off-season and have made considerable signings.
Tennesse Titans Offseason Recap
As per Sports Illustrated, the Titans GM during the free agency, signed wideout Calvin Ridley, Rusher Tony Pollard, Center Lloyd Cushenberry, CB Chidobe Awuzie, LB Kenneth Murray Jr., O-Linemen Saahdiq Charles, Mason Rudolph, and D- lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day. They also traded for cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.
Tennessee had 7 draft picks. They signed JC Latham, NT T’Vondre Sweat, LB Cedric Gray, CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr., WR Jha’Quan Jackson, LB James Williams, and OLB Jaylen Harrell.
The question about players’ character has been raised every year, and teams get criticized for giving those players a shot, despite constant warnings from media and analysts. Travis Kelce, Cam Newton, Randy Moss, and Warren Sapp- all had character issues. Two of them are in HOF, one is on his way and Newton had a decent career. Will Sweat be able to enjoy the same fate?
