Tennessee opted to fire Vrabel instead of potentially trading him.
The Tennessee Titans shocked the NFL world by firing head coach Mike Vrabel on Tuesday after six seasons. Vrabel is regarded as a good coach in the NFL, having taken the Titans to an AFC championship game during the 2019 season, and insiders don’t believe he will be unemployed for long.
The Titans could’ve potentially traded Vrabel to another team, since Vrabel’s contract did not expire after the season, but the team decided against it. According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Tennessee wanted to start the process of hiring a new coach immediately instead of spending time negotiating a trade for Vrabel with another team.
The Titans believed trading Vrabel was too complicated and would take too long, per sources. They wanted to move on quickly. I was told Vrabel never asked ownership for a trade or asked out of Tennessee.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 9, 2024
Tennessee’s decision not to explore a Vrabel trade confused NFL fans, as the Titans essentially turned down the option to add draft capital to their offseason. As a result, the NFL world roasted the Titans for such a short-sighted decision.
"Feels like a lotta work, no thanks" is extremely relatable content https://t.co/mq8en3ExxB
— Céad Míle Fáilte (@ColeyMick) January 9, 2024
There are 32 NFL teams and one of them is apparently run by people who pass up opportunities to make their team better if doing so is “too complicated” https://t.co/PhNCA5UKP7
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) January 9, 2024
This is my approach to stuff like...changing a healthcare plan, or anything involving basic paperwork. So while I respect it, I'm not sure it's the correct handling of NFL draft capital and franchise-altering decisions. https://t.co/vP3Z9QW62c
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) January 9, 2024
me, when i get target drive up pickup for three items instead of going into the store and getting them myself https://t.co/ArCQLUPXE9
— Robert O'Neill (@RobertONeill31) January 9, 2024
I'm so sorry, Titans fans. https://t.co/8ysyXLO58o
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 9, 2024
The Titans didn’t want to take the time to go through trading a top 15 coach so they fired him… and they wonder why they are bad https://t.co/DPZpJMwW3a
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) January 9, 2024
Moving on from Vrabel is bad.
— Sam Phalen (@Sam_Phalen) January 9, 2024
This is even worse. https://t.co/0IiQ1QikPg
i'm sorry ... the process was too complicated so we didn't bother? https://t.co/ShRqY2wI2z pic.twitter.com/Ucsho4rj5i
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) January 9, 2024
The most successful people are fine with being uncomfortable.
— Jon Reed (@Jon__Reed) January 9, 2024
Yesterday’s end of season fiasco simply made the Titans too uncomfortable to wait for potential trade compensation. That’s a failure https://t.co/7VWpX5l6KB
The decision to fire Vrabel is awful. The reasoning for not getting significant draft capital back for the best coach on the open market is embarrassing https://t.co/cX40OF4Av9
— Ryan Hickey (@Ryan_Hickey3) January 9, 2024
There are now six total head coach openings in the NFL, and that doesn’t include the New England Patriots who may move on from Bill Belichick. If the Patriots do decide to go in a different direction, many in the NFL world believe Vrabel would be a logical replacement.
