The Treylon Burks Era has come to a close in Tennessee.
The Titans waived the wide receiver with an injury designation on Monday, just days after suffering a fractured collarbone during Tennessee’s training camp. This latest injury came as Burks was working his way back from an ACL injury that required a surgical repair last season, costing the wide receiver the final 12 games of his 2024 season.
This designation also closes the books on the deal the Titans made to acquire Burks during the 2022 NFL Draft.
Let’s take a moment to revisit that trade between the Titans and the Philadelphia Eagles.
During the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, a deal between the Titans and the Eagles rocked the football world and shaped both teams for years to come. With wide receiver A.J. Brown entering the final year of his rookie deal and unable to come to terms on a new contract with the Titans, he was sent to the Titans in exchange for a pair of picks: No. 18 overall and a third-round selection at No. 101 overall.
Philadelphia promptly signed Brown to a new four-year, $100 million contract that included $57 million guaranteed.
“At the end of the day, we have to make — I have to make — the hard decisions,” then-Titans general manager Jon Robinson said at the time. “And there’s a lot of things that impact those decisions. Certainly, the finances impact the decisions and trying to get value when we can. And that’s the decision we made today.”
As for those two picks the Titans received, they used No. 18 to draft Burks, who drew comparisons to Brown coming out of Arkansas.
With that pick at 101, Tennessee packaged that selection with a later pick in the first round, at No. 26, in a deal with the New York Jets. In exchange for picks No. 26 and No. 101, the Titans received picks No. 35, No. 69, and No. 163.
With their new pick at No. 35, the Titans selected cornerback Roger McCreary out of Auburn. They drafted Ohio State offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere at No. 69, and then UCLA WR Kyle Phillips at No. 163.
Petit-Frere began the 2022 campaign as Tennessee’s starting right tackle, but was suspended before the 2023 season for violating the league’s gambling policy. After beginning the 2024 season as the starter, he was demoted midway through the ht season, and was waived by Tennessee back in April.
Phillips struggled with injuries during his first two seasons in Tennessee, and was waived by the Titans in August of 2024. He was signed to the Eagles’ practice squad in September of last year, and was part of the Eagles team that won Super Bowl LIX.
McCreary solidified himself as the starting slot corner in the Titans’ defense and is expected to be the team’s starter at that spot again this season.
Then there is Burks, who over his time in Tennessee caught 53 passes for 699 yards and one touchdown, which came back during his rookie season.
As for Brown, he caught 12 passes for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns during the 2024 playoffs alone. During his three years with the Eagles he has caught 261 passes for 4,031 yards and 25 touchdowns. He has earned Second-Team All-Pro honors each season in Philadelphia, and was a core part of last year’s team that won Super Bowl LIX.
He is also an avid reader.
