No doubt the Titans face a rebuild after being relegated to their second consecutive losing season under coach Mike Vrabel.
It seems likely that Vrabel, who inherited a playoff team when he took over from Mike Mularkey in 2018, will get a chance to work out of the current mess the Titans have become through poor drafts and free agent misses over the past few years.
In fact, with Vrabel having more authority after Jon Robinson’s firing a year ago, the culling process is already underway.
It started after the Colts debacle three weeks ago. Special teams coach Craig Aukerman’s firing was the big news, but the Titans also that week rid themselves of another draft failure in waiving former third-round pick Monty Rice.
Rice, who was never able to secure a starting job in three years with the Titans, took a parting shot on his way out the door – similar to how the now repentant and re-signed Jaleel Johnson did a couple of weeks prior.
But the shuffling didn’t stop with Rice. In fact, after the Titans’ most impressive win of the season last week in Miami on Monday Night Football, it ramped up in earnest with Kristian Fulton being banished to injured reserve with his hamstring issues and Teair Tart disappearing from the practice field for “personal reasons.” He was then waived as the Titans tired of his questionable conditioning and inconsistent effort.
Those moves sent a clear message to players still on the roster that being part of the impending rebuild requires buy-in and availability. It also sends that message at a minimal cost. Rice was never going to develop into a starter, so he was expendable.
Fulton, deemed “a repeat offender” by Vrabel with his hamstring issues last season, couldn’t shake it this year, and his inconsistent play also got him benched multiple times. While Fulton wasn’t expecting to go on injured reserve, the Titans made the move knowing the soon-to-be free agent doesn’t fit their future plans.
It also was easy for Vrabel to make an example of Tart, who despite being one of the team’s most talented players couldn’t fully buy into the Vrabel way and was shown the door.
Vrabel’s hard-nosed approach isn’t for every player, but the ones who don’t adopt it are already being phased out.