‘They empowered me to make those decisions here’ — Titans power structure has never been clearer after GM Mike Borgonzi lays down the law

Here we go again.

Tennessee Titans GM Mike Borgonzi spoke to the media following the conclusion of the NFL Trade Deadline, and he was once again asked about who does what around here. Specifically, what’s the division of labor (and power) between him and Chad Brinker? This is a question that has been beaten to far beyond a pulp ever since Ran Carthon was fired, Chad Brinker was made the official head of everybody on the football side of the operation, and Mike Borgonzi was hired.

There’s been an answer to this question for quite some time now, but people have been incredibly resistant to accepting it. Perhaps this time, finally, hearing it from Borgonzi alone will put the discussion to rest.

Mike Borgonzi really does run the Titans roster

Mike Borgonzi controls the Titans roster. This has been a fact for as long as he’s been in Tennessee. But because President of Football Operations Chad Brinker is technically his boss, and has a forward-facing role in handling the roster as well, there has long been everything ranging from speculation to downright conspiracy theorism over who is really pulling the levers.

“I get the question. I do,” Borgonzi said when asked to clarify roles. “And Chad is invaluable to me. Chad hired me, Amy (Adams Strunk) hired me to really construct the roster. That’s what they hired me for. And they empowered me to do that.”

If you ask anybody truly familiar with the Titans, inside or outside the building, inclined or disinclined to believe a company line, they’ll all tell you the same thing: Mike Borgonzi really does have final say over all roster decisions. He is who is calling the roster shots. Yes, Chad Brinker technically has the latitude to walk into Borgonzi’s office and command him to do something his way. On paper, he has the power to veto any football decision, because he is the boss. But he doesn’t. It’s really that simple. He hired Mike to run his team’s roster, and he lets Mike run the roster. So what does Brinker actually do when it comes to the roster?

“And what Chad does is he has knowledge in scouting, he’s got knowledge in the salary cap strategy,” Borgonzi explained. “Chad is really smart. And Chad supports me with all the decisions that I make. And it’s no different in every other organization. You can say the titles and who’s above who. It’s the same structure in every organization. It’s— you got the GM, you have your VP of strategy cap, and then you got the head coach. And whatever title you want to give them, those are the three people that work together to make decisions. And there’s no one person that like, he’s got the 53,— like I’m going to go rogue and just make a pick.”

How often do you think somebody truly invokes a veto power with the roster, whether it’s Mike with the power Chad has given to him, or Chad with the power he technically has on paper? Ten times a year? 20? More?

Not one shred of my thorough understanding of the inner-workings of this relationship between Brinker and Borgonzi leads me to believe it’s invoked in a particularly meaningful way, ever. And I refuse to choose to believe otherwise. For what, the sake of fun palace intrigue? Better gossip? Fomenting a secret, malevolent, incompetent reputation for Chad Brinker as the puppeteer of all Titans evils? Do I think sometimes Mike might be interested in kicking the tires on Jimmy McPracticeSquad who Chad dislikes, but he decides to bring him in for a workout anyways? Sure. But is anybody pulling a trump card on anything of importance in Tennessee? No, they aren’t. Brinker and Borgonzi really are a tag team, they really do see this thing similarly, and Borgonzi really does have final say over the roster.