Titans get great draft pick news that’s immediately ruined by Mike Vrabel on Sunday Night Football

An upgraded draft pick was within reach for the Titans… until it wasn’t.

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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The Tennessee Titans dispatched the Mahomes-less Kansas City Chiefs 26-9 in Week 16, and their day only got better with in the night cap. On Sunday Night Football, the New England Patriots rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Baltimore Ravens 28-24 and punch their ticket to the postseason.

The Titans traded EDGE Dre’Mont Jones to Baltimore before the NFL trade deadline in early November, and they received a conditional fifth round pick in return. But the conditions of that pick hung in the balance on Sunday Night Football, and two big outcomes played out to impact it.

Dre’Mont Jones satisfies sacks condition of his trade

Titans GM Mike Borgonzi negotiated for the the Jets’ fifth round pick in return for Jones, which belonged to the Ravens. But he also negotiated a pair of terms that, if met, would turn that fifth into the Ravens’ own fourth. Condition one was for Dre’Mont Jones to get at least two sacks in the regular season as a Raven. He had 4.5 sacks at the end of his Titans tenure, at least one per game for a month straight. So this felt like a pretty easy bar to clear.

After managing 1.5 sacks in Week 12, Jones sacked Drake Maye to officially clear the two sack bar and satisfy that condition. All that was left was for the Ravens to reach the playoffs.

In the fourth quarter, Titans legend Derrick Henry ran his team to a 24-13 lead and all was going to plan. But for some inexplicable reason I cannot explain, John Harbaugh sat his star running back and kept the ball in the hands of a backup QB and backup RB the rest of the way. Henry never touched the ball again, stuck on the sideline. It’s hard to explain that as anything but bold-faced incompetence on the part of Baltimore.

Mike Vrabel’s Patriots came roaring back carried by their breakout second year QB Drake Maye, and they won the game. This puts the Ravens playoff odds in grave danger. Now, unless the Steelers lose to the Browns in Week 17, the Ravens won’t make the cut. And even if the Browns pull off the massive upset, the Ravens will still need to beat Pittsburgh themselves in Week 18. In other words; it’s not happening.

So the Titans upgraded pick that seemed as good as gold late in this game is unlikely to come to fruition after all. Rats. The good news here is that, while a better pick is always favorable, we’re really only talking about around a 20-30 pick leap on Day 3 of the draft.

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