Potential Titans trade deadline plans would be a nightmare scenario for Cam Ward
Posted October 9, 2025
The Tennessee Titans are enduring a worst-case scenario season in 2025. They have been a train wreck in nearly every facet, and even rookie quarterback Cam Ward could not help himself when giving his honest assessment of the team.
All fans are waiting on the inevitable announcement of Brian Callahan's firing, which is virtually guaranteed to happen at some point. Fans are also anxiously waiting to see what players get dealt at the upcoming trade deadline, as the Titans are assured to be aggressive sellers.
They already traded Jarvis Brownlee for little return, which, given Mike Borgonzi's offseason moves, is another telling sign of what he thinks of players acquired by previous GM Ran Carthon. While the Titans will keep exploring opportunities to acquire draft capital, Kevin Zeitler is one player who should virtually be off limits.
Titans have to resist urge to trade veteran guard Kevin Zeitler at the deadline
The Titans signed Zeitler in the offseason to bolster their offensive line. Unfortunately, the whole unit has still struggled to start the season. Granted, they have been held back by injuries and difficult assignments, so it is one of the few areas on the team that truly has yet to get a fair opportunity to prove themselves.
Regardless, Zeitler has been a steady performer. The offensive line missed him dearly when he missed Week 3 due to injury. Zeitler is an excellent player on a one-year contract who could draw interest from Super Bowl contenders as the trade deadline approaches, but the Titans should be extremely reluctant to move him.
This season is about developing Ward and ensuring he is put in the best possible position to succeed. The Titans have already failed to support him adequately, so getting worse on the offensive line shouldn't be under consideration. Getting rid of Zeitler puts Ward in an even worse situation than he already finds himself in.
The only possible upside to trading Zeitler would be getting rookie Jackson Slater some experience before he's counted on to potentially be a starter next season. It is highly unlikely that Slater is far along enough in his development to replace Zeitler immediately. It would probably go poorly.
You also have to consider what the return for Zeitler might be. If he were to fetch back a top-100 pick, then the Titans might strongly consider that. But realistically speaking, a 35-year-old guard on an expiring contract is unlikely to command such a high asking price.
The Titans would be much better off keeping Zeitler and letting him adequately protect Ward. They should think long and hard about trading any offensive player who would negatively impact Ward's development. Of all the realistic candidates they should not trade, Zeitler tops the list.
Titans aren’t admitting it, but there’s extra layer of hidden motivation on the line in Week 6 for the Callahan family
Brian Callahan laughed it off when I asked him if this weekend is a grudge match. “Generally not, no,” he said. “The faces change and there's a lot of things that are— everywhere is different after a couple years. So yeah, I certainly want to go win that's the part of it, but not for any— there's no personal reasons there. I want our team to go 1-0 this week.”
No personal reasons, is that right Brian? I’m only half-joking when I say, I'm not sure I believe you! Because not only do the Tennessee Titans have a shocking number of former Raiders on their payroll, but Brian and Bill Callahan have a lengthy history with Pete Carroll… and it isn’t pretty!
Pete Carroll Kind Of Owns The Callahans?
I jokingly asked Brian Callahan about this being a grudge match on Wednesday at the end of his press conference after he mentioned how many current Titans are also former Raiders. “Yeah, we got a lot of Raiders on our staff,” he explained. “A lot of guys that have spent a lot of time there. I was in high school when my dad was there. They had a lot of success over those years. And those were kind of my first— I was a fan. I was a fan of the team. And I was always excited to go. It was great environments to go play when they were at the Coliseum in Oakland. Then I got a chance to go coach there for a year. And yeah, I have kind of fond memories and that silver and black and those gamedays and some of the wins over the years when I was following along as a high school kid and spending time there. So yeah, great, great place. Great memories for me overall. I had a chance to go work there as well. And then you got a lot of guys on our staff that spent a lot years, between Nick Holz and Travis Smith and Tom Jones and my dad's been there for a while. And I'm sure there's other guys, but we have some guys that have long histories there.”
Here’s more context than you asked for: It wasn’t until right after that presser that I talked about this with my friend and colleague Nick Suss at The Tennessean, and he astutely pointed out that the
real grudge match here was between the Callahan’s and Pete Carroll. For some reason, Bill and Brian Callahan’s football paths have been inextricably tied to Pete Carroll at nearly every stop for some reason. And for the most part, he’s had their number.
Suss is who sat there and did the research on this as we discussed it, so I’d like to shout out the Thursday edition of “A Football Show” he does each week that I always tune in for. He laid out this research on this week’s episode, as well as a bunch of other great bits of Titans analysis, so go check that out. Now, here’s the story:
Bill and Brian Callahan have faced a Pete Carroll team 20 times in total. They’re 5-15 against him. Collectively, they’ve been outscored 567-326. This includes Brian as a player and then a grad assistant at UCLA when Carroll was rolling with his USC superpower (brutal time to be at UCLA!). It also includes Bill Callahan at Nebraska, various assistant coaching matchups in the NFL, and Pete beating Brian’s (Peyton Manning’s) Broncos like a drum in Super Bowl 48.
Brian Callahan has lost to Pete Carroll in every football job he’s ever held except for when he coached a high school team! He’s lost to him as a player at UCLA and as a GA at UCLA. When he was with the Lions, they had to play and lose to Pete Carroll. Same thing in Cincinnati and in Denver. He was only with the Raiders one season, and guess what? They had to play and lose to the Seahawks that year too!
Now Brian finally lands a head coaching gig of his own in Tennessee, and thankfully Pete Carroll has retired. The bad man can’t hurt you any longer. Except, no, this is a classic slasher sequel. The boogeyman is back from the dead, and he’s coaching the Raiders now. The Raiders, who you must travel to play on the road this season. Best of luck exercising that demon, Brian!
