We want more draft picks.

This has been the steadfast message of the Mike Borgonzi regime since he first became the GM of the Tennessee Titans. He and President of Football Operations Chad Brinker ideally want twelve top-100 picks in their first three years. As of now, they’re on pace for just nine. With where this roster was at when Borgonzi inherited it, drafting and developing cornerstone talent was and still is paramount if this franchise is ever going to compete again.

So whenever a trade is floated that involves the Titans sending draft assets away for a better pick or veteran player, knowledgeable Titans fans know to shoot it down. This team is in the market to trade down, not up.

But as potential trade buzz grows louder in the final days leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft, a scenario that enables a rare trade-up for the Titans is genuinely worth monitoring.

Mike Borgonzi could trade down to trade back up later

The top of the 2026 NFL Draft is a buyer’s market. A majority of the teams drafting in the top-10 have been reported to some degree as wanting to trade down, and the number of potential trade-up candidates is a much smaller and murkier list. That being said, the desire for the top defensive players in particular may very well drive a team to come up with a reasonable offer. The top two EDGE players are who to watch with the Titans at 4, and the Cardinals before then at 3. You can read more about that here.

So what if the Titans get something done to trade down in the first? They’d likely land in the 8-12 range, having secured additional 2026 and/or 2027 capital. This could turn them towards WR options such as Ohio State’ Carnell Tate, USC’s Makai Lemon, or Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson. Tate and Lemon were 30 visits for Tennessee, and Borgonzi claimed last week the team didn’t have any issues with Tyson’s medicals. The Titans were one of the teams reported to be in attendance at Tyson’s final private workout last week, demonstrating his ability and health after nursing a hamstring most of the cycle. So I wouldn’t cross one of those guys off the list in that scenario.

But a sneaky trade-up possibility would suddenly be on the board if they first managed to trade down. In speaking with league sources who I trust, the general sentiment from many teams picking around the 20’s is that they’d like to move back with teams like Tennessee at 35 who might want to come back up into the first. The Titans are amongst the teams who have fielded these kinds of calls.

As established at the beginning of this article, spending the capital they currently have to trade up isn’t something the Titans have an appetite for. In fact, I’ve speculated all year that they’d likely entertain a trade-down of their own from 35 if it closely resembled their early Round 2 trade down in 2025. But what if they suddenly had a juiced war chest of picks from a trade down from 4?

This is a scenario in which the Titans could jump back up a few picks into the late 1st round if there was a prospect they really loved. Borgonzi has already shown a willingness to trade up a smidge for a receiver, moving with the Ravens last year to get back into the 4th Round for Elic Ayomanor. And while I won’t rule out them targeting a top guard prospect if the run on the Chase Bisontis/Keylan Rutledge/Emmanuel Pregnon tier starts earlier than they’d like, I could see this being the WR spot for a couple of reasons.

First, they’ve expressed interest in this tier of WR prospect. Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. and Texas A&M’s KC Conception were 30 visits the Titans conducted, which raised some eyebrows given the likelihood of either player still being in range at 35. Washington’s Denzel Boston, who I personally love the fit for on this roster, should be lumped in here as well. This is the group they’d be considering in this situation.

Second, because this team doesn’t need just any help at receiver; they need a top receiver. I’m not going to rule out a swing at this position in the middle rounds, but the Titans need players who can contribute now. Where is another fourth round rookie WR breaking into this rotation? The Titans lack starting-caliber talent right now, not depth. I wrote more about the way their current roster setup impacts this situation here.

It all depends on if they can get out of 4, and if these teams in the 20’s really want out as badly as it seems they do. If the stars align, the Titans could be active trade participants this weekend.