Tennessee Titans president of football operations, Chad Brinker, has been tasked with finding a new general manager after the team decided to part ways with Ran Carthon after just two seasons.
The team that won six games in Carthon’s first season as GM saw half as many wins in his second year, which is what Amy Adams Strunk cited as the reason for his departure.
Brinker joined the Titans in 2023 as Carthon’s assistant general manager and was promoted to his current position at the conclusion of the 2023 season. This happened in the same breath (almost) as the firing of Mike Vrabel while Carthon remained on as general manager.
Brinker and Carthon seemed to have a relationship that was tighter than ever, Brinker even saying that they “clicked right away” and were very much on the same page.
So, what happened in 2024 to change all of that? Brian Callahan became the head coach and Will Levis became the starting quarterback. And remember: Brinker helped draft Levis in 2023 and certainly had a hand in Callahan’s hiring.
But Carthon took all the heat for all of 2024’s failures, and the Titans’ messaging has become muddied and unclear.
Charles Robinson & Dianna Russini have said that people in the league told them that Chad was the “GM”
Robinson said since Chad got promoted
Russini said anytime there was talk with teams about players/trades “They do business with Chad”
Yet, all the moves are “Ran’s”
— Zach Lyons (@TheZachLyons) January 10, 2025
And it appears that Brinker will have the final say in all personnel decisions going forward, so what kind of power is a new general manager really going to have? It’s so muddied that even the NFL took its time to approve the Titans’ job posting.
Glad the posting got approved. But the fact it was even up in the air as a real GM position just isn’t a good look. #Titans https://t.co/SFkp4VDW0S
— Titans Tribe (@TitansTribe) January 10, 2025
This is because the Titans want to give Brinker the “tie-breaking vote” between Callahan and the new general manager when it comes to personnel decisions.
From the outside looking in, it appears that Brinker has all of the power with player personnel for the Titans and that whoever comes in as general manager will simply be a face. The way this is being handled by the organization is not going to pan out well because who wants that job? No one wants to be the person to come in, have no power, and then be the scapegoat when it all falls apart.
The Titans must do better. And if the GM is going to have actual power, they need to make very clear where those lines are and what responsibilities they actually have.
