NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans waived former 2022 first-round pick Treylon Burks on Tuesday. Burks, who was cleared to return from Injured Reserve for a collarbone injury he suffered this August, was not claimed and officially becomes a free agent.

With Burks ejection from Tennessee’s roster, the franchise that traded A.J. Brown for the pick that became Burks can finally move on.

Burks felt doomed to fail with the Titans from the start

Brown, now 28, was an elite play-maker as a second-round find in 2019. Burks was always going to be in his shadow.

Burks was always going to be in his shadow. Brown has been even better since being shipped off to Philadelphia. Brown has played in 52 of 56 possible games, catching 280 of his 436 targets (64.2%) for 4,225 yards and 26 touchdowns.

The Eagles won the Super Bowl last season, while Burks (27 games, 53/92, 57.6%, 699 yds, 1TD) has never appeared in a postseason game.

Then-general manager Jon Robinson, who executed the trade and was fired in December of 2022, recently made a joke at Tennessee’s expense in a birthday Instagram post to his wife. “I guess it’s still MY fault,” wrote Robinson, referencing Cam Ward’s “we ass” comment made following the Titans Week 4 26-0 shutout loss to the Houston Texans.

It was admittedly funny, and without a shred of self-awareness.

It is far more Robinson’s fault than it was Burks’ fault. After drafting him with the 18th overall pick, Burks battled everything from conditioning issues, Asthma, knee injuries, the broken collarbone, concussions and an ACL repair. The Titans pedaled the idea to fans that they could save money, draft a younger, cheaper version of their All-Pro receiver, and keep rolling.

What they actually did was gut the identity of their offense and set their franchise back years. Tennessee is 17-39 since trading Brown to Philadelphia.

Jon Robinson’s decision to trade Brown was the football equivalent of lighting your own house on fire for the insurance money without actually having home insurance. The lesson? You don’t trade away elite talent in their prime because you think you can find the next version in the draft.

You pay great players. You build around them. The Titans didn’t, and they’ve been trying to recover ever since.

Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.