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If you read one story today, make sure it's Jim Wyatt's interview with Mike Shanahan, who was a pallbearer yesterday at the Nashville funeral of his best friend Mike Heimerdinger. Dinger and Shanahan were roommates in college, colleagues as coaches and thick as family outside of football. It's a great glimpse into the non-football side of a coordinator who will mean as much to the legacy of the Tennessee Titans in Nashville as any of the great coaches we've seen over the past 12 years.
I'm all for the Brandon Lloyd trade provided, he can be had for a 5th rounder and maybe a little sweetener (like a 7th rounder, or scrub player). Lloyd isn't a the world-beater he was last season in Josh McDaniels' offense, but he's better than any receiver we have on the field right now. And since most Titans fans have little to no faith that the running game is going to get much better this season, they'd be wise to double-down on the passing game. Hasselbeck could use another experienced, reliable veteran to balance out some of these inconsistent young guys (looking at you Hawkins, Williams, Avery and Cook), and Lloyd certainly proved he can finally be the playmaker down the field the 49ers hoped they were drafting back in '03. He's only slated to make $1.3 million this year, and we wouldn't be locked into him past 2011. If the price is resonable, do it Mikey.
David Boclair says the Titans are missing more than Kenny Britt's on the field exploits: Britt has become one of the guys who sets the tone around the training facility with his affable smile and up-beat approach to working hard. Despite some bone-headed off-seaosn trouble in New Jersey, it's very clear that Britt is a guy his teammates love to be around.
Via Paul K, ESPN Insider Chris Sprow gives the Titans the second easiest schedule in the AFC South. Houston takes the top honors as their schedule gets much easier after they face Baltimore on Sunday, then come to Nashville the next week. You can fully expect the Texans to be hamstrung by the fact that they're still the Texans, the Jags to struggle with a rookie QB and the Colts to write this season off as a bad dream, so this division is still as winnable as it'll ever get for us.
It's complete opinion and not based on any actual chatter, but Schefter says that the Chiefs should trade us Dwayne Bowe for our second and fifth-round picks. Fuck. Yes. That would be the trade of a lifetime, and would probably be a career ender for Scott Pioli. Here's Schefter's verbatim attempt to stir the pot:
Kansas City trades WR Dwayne Bowe to the Titans for second- and fifth-round picks: Kansas City invested a first-round pick in wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin and millions in free-agent wide receiver Steve Breaston. The Titans could use a replacement for Kenny Britt, along with some insurance in the event he encounters more legal issues.
Titans defenders Michael Griffin, Derrick Morgan, Barrett Ruud and Will Witherspoon all make PFF's list of the worst players from last Sunday.
Former Titans team president Jeff Diamond (who astute Titans fans will remember was forced out as part of Jeff Fisher's power struggle with Floyd Reese) weighs in on the Tebow dilemma in Denver for Si.com.
Ugh.
The Britt genes are strong with this one...
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