Welcome to Tennessee, Mike Borgonzi.
You’ve got a big job ahead of you, even if you don’t have final say over the Titans roster and the exact direction the franchise wants to go.
Wherever that direction leads, Borgonzi will be a key component in the makeup of what the Titans roster looks like going forward.
Even though he will report to president of football operations Chad Brinker, Borgonzi now gets the chance to help apply some of what he learned in 16 years with the Kansas City Chiefs to see if he can resurrect the moribund Titans, who have sunk to the bottom of the NFL, thanks to a steady three-year decline highlighted by instability in the organization and an inability to put together a competitive roster.
It still is not certain exactly how Ran Carthon, hailed as the man to take the Titans to glory when he was hired in 2023, became the sole fall guy for the Titans’ 3-14 season, while both Brinker and head coach Brian Callahan survived. But his dismissal continues the carousel of chaos that has beset the franchise now for three straight years.
Now, Borgonzi is the latest to try his hand at restoring the Titans while having to be careful not to get in the crosshairs of owner Amy Adams Strunk and her impulsive trigger finger.
To pick or not to pick…
The key to Borgonzi’s tenure will largely lie with what he does with the No. 1 pick in the draft, something the Titans last held in 2016 but dealt to the Los Angeles Rams for a package of picks.
The Rams took Jared Goff with that first pick, and then general manager Jon Robinson, who coincidentally was also in his first year on the job that year, made more trades and eventually wound up with five players that helped to rebuild the Titans enough to win nine games the next year and reach the playoffs in Robinson’s second season.
Among the players those picks were running back Derrick Henry, offensive lineman Jack Conklin and defensive end Austin Johnson in 2016 and wide receiver Corey Davis and tight end Jonnu Smith in 2017.
At that time, the Titans were still committed to Marcus Mariota, who was in his second season, having been chosen second overall the previous year.
This time around, Borgonzi (and Brinker and Callahan) will likely be tasked with the same decision. Do they stick and pick at No. 1 and hitch their wagon to Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders with the first overall choice or do they look for a trade partner and try to get a bevy of picks similarly to how Robinson rebuilt the team nearly a decade before?
Robinson’s decision to deal the pick was sound because the roster was threadbare and the team felt it had found its guy in Mariota, which left the Titans out of the quarterback market that year.
That’s not necessarily the case this year. The Titans have Will Levis as their incumbent quarterback. He’s had his good moments, but the combination of his mistakes and the Titans’ lack of talent has the thought of a new QB very much in play.
Past not necessarily prologue…
Having seen the success of rookie quarterbacks like C.J. Stroud and Jayden Daniels makes it tempting for Borgonzi to take the plunge and go all in on Ward or Sanders. But that should only be the direction the Titans head if they are absolutely certain that one of them is a star in the making.
Reaching for a quarterback early in the draft often results in a Zach Wilson or a Trey Lance. And even if the Titans take Ward or Sanders at No. 1, no one should expect immediate success from a rookie quarterback on a roster short on talent.
That said, this is a scenario with which Borgonzi should be familiar.
In 2013, four years after Borgonzi began working for the Chiefs, the team had struggled the previous season and possessed the No. 1 pick. That draft was not dissimilar to 2025, with only two quarterbacks – E.J. Manuel (taken in the first round by Buffalo) and Geno Smith (taken in second round by the Jets) – regarded as remotely worthy of a high pick. Neither particularly panned out initially, though Smith has since salvaged his career in Seattle.
Instead, the Chiefs took tackle Eric Fisher at No. 1 – not a great pick, but at least a solid one – and traded for veteran Alex Smith, who had been displaced by Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco.
Smith brought veteran leadership to the Chiefs and helped the franchise back to respectability, even as Kansas City sought to replace him and did so with Patrick Mahomes. The rest, as they say, is history.
So as Borgonzi settles into Nashville – and even as free agency comes first – he, Callahan and Brinker have to make the all-important decision of what to do at No. 1 and whether or not that pick becomes the next option at quarterback.
Whether Borgonzi gets that pick correct will largely determine the franchise’s fate and – given the way coaches and general managers are being shown the door of late – decide his long-term prospects.