Tennessee Titans: Two main factors that would impact a DJ Moore trade
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans (3-2) head to their bye week in need of reinforcements. With a team like the Carolina Panthers (1-4) clearly ejecting on the 2022 season, could a Tennessee trade for receiver DJ Moore be feasible? It should be on the table according to ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky. "DJ Moore," said […]
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans (3-2) head to their bye week in need of reinforcements. With a team like the Carolina Panthers (1-4) clearly ejecting on the 2022 season, could a Tennessee trade for receiver DJ Moore be feasible?
It should be on the table according to ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky.
"DJ Moore," said the former NFL quarterback when discussing the ouster of Carolina head coach Matt Rhule. "If I was Green Bay, I'd call Carolina. If I was Dallas, I'd call Carolina. And if I was Tennessee, I'd call Carolina because they just put Treylon Burks on IR."
Carolina will seek draft compensation as it prepares itself for a rebuild, and NFL teams have already started calling about the status of Moore and other talented Panthers players.
Titans could do with a proven play-maker
One would be wise not to get their hopes up for a Moore trade in Tennessee, however.
Several reasons would impact this decision from Titans general manager Jon Robinson as it relates to the Carolina wide receiver. In-season personnel acquisitions are not unprecedented in Tennessee, but certainly rare. The only such instance of Robinson acquiring a player during a campaign was in 2020. With the defensive back depth savaged by injury and no pass rush to speak of, Robinson sent a 2021 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Chargers for corner Desmond King.
King's acquisition proved only to be a short-term rental, as he signed with the Houston Texans that next offseason.
If the Titans were to make a deal for any position at this point, the left side of the offensive line could use significant improvement. Guard Aaron Brewer is a good story, but insufficient thus far. Tackle Dennis Daley, who Tennessee acquired this August from the Panthers, was brought in to be additional depth. Losing three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan to an ACL tear has forced Daley into a starting role, where he has also struggled.
Moore's money complicates things further
A first-round draft choice by Carolina in 2018, Moore just recently cashed in.
The Maryland product is only 25-years only now five seasons into his NFL career. Moore has eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in each of the last three years and has proven reliable despite the constant quarterback rotation the Panthers have started with no clear end in sight. Carolina rewarded the receiver with a three-year, $61.8 million contract extension that allowed him to get paid immediately and still have another crack at a substantive second NFL contract.
The deal, done this past March, balloons his cap hit in 2022 from $6.11 million to $25.04 million the following season.
A hypothetical Titans deal for Moore is not impossible. Contract decisions on defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, guard Nate Davis and linebacker David Long loom large over any substantive money acquisitions.
Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports & 104.5 The Zone.
