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    • DeAndre Hopkins will also leave the Tennessee Titans and excel elsewhere
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    DeAndre Hopkins will also leave the Tennessee Titans and excel elsewhere

    Vaseline Posted on

    From AJ Brown to Derrick Henry and others lately, it seems like it’s best for a good Tennessee Titans player like DeAndre Hopkins to go elsewhere.

    It’s becoming increasingly difficult to worry about the short-term affairs of these Tennessee Titans. They might be the worst team in the NFL. Not even halfway through the season, and there is no excitement or mystery about what lies ahead.

    The Titans will continue to try to win, when in the long run it is more advisable to lose and increase their draft position.

    Only if you use the logic of bad NFL teams does it seem like a good idea to draft a potential Hall of Fame receiver — and one who is still the most talented, reliable and naturally gifted player on this awful team trade for a Day 3 draft pick.

    But sending receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Kansas City Chiefs for a conditional fourth-round pick is a win for everyone involved.

    Hopkins, 32, won’t sign until this season. He had no intention of helping the Titans get started. Why don’t you get something back for him? The Chiefs are getting a player who can help them get back to the Super Bowl.

    And here’s the biggest winner in Wednesday’s news:

    Hopkins.

    The best thing that can happen to a Titans player’s career lately is him leaving. I would expect Hopkins to crush it in Kansas City because he’s a very good player, and that’s what good players continue to do after they emerge from these Titans.

    Call it the curse of the AJ Brown trade. A trend began when Brown totaled nearly 1,500 receiving yards in consecutive seasons in Philadelphia (he topped out at 1,075 at Tennessee). Since then, it has become routine for Titans fans to be exposed to a spectacle of former players thriving with new teams in ways they no longer did (or in some cases, never did) with the Titans.

    Do you think Derrick Henry, who is suddenly reliving his career peak as a member of the Baltimore Ravens, regrets his decision to sign there as a free agent after last season? Hendrik is on fire. On Tuesday, I was in the Nashville Predators locker room and the television kept showing highlights of Henry running through the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You can’t even get away from it for a moment with another sport.

    For a Titans fan, these Ravens highlights have to sting even more than Brown’s with the Eagles.

    There are others too.

    Safety Kevin Byard didn’t have a good time in Philly, but he’s having a nice rebound season with the Chicago Bears and helping that franchise’s revival.

    Defensive back Elijah Molden has two interceptions in six games for the Los Angeles Chargers. He had two interceptions in 33 games with the Titans.

    And of course, quarterback Malik Willis only needed a few weeks with the Green Bay Packers to return to Nissan Stadium and embarrass the Titans, playing like he’s never played in two-tone blue.

    And just wait until Denico Autry and Azeez Al-Shaair return to Nashville with the Houston Texans to take down this Titans team. Either the chronically underrated Ryan Tannehill signs sometime midseason and emerges fresh and ready to surprise with a decent offensive line or – and brace yourself for this possibility, Titans fans – Mike Vrabel becomes head coach of, say, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

    The point is, as the Titans continue to flounder, many of their best pieces from the recent past are helping other franchises. Or they’re ready to help another franchise.

    What DeAndre Hopkins trade means: Are Tennessee Titans being sold? How this affects Will Levis

    Hopkins’ success in KC feels imminent. If he’s healthy, he’ll be good for the Chiefs. He was good on two bad Titans teams, which will unfortunately be the lasting memory of Hopkins’ short stay. He never had much chance of winning anything. But last season he played in all 17 games and finished with 1,057 receiving yards. He also developed a bond with Will Levis that no other Titans receiver has been able to show. Levis missed Henry’s presence. He’ll miss Hopkins, too.

    The Titans are no better without Hopkins, though they did the right thing in letting him go. And something tells me no one in the Titans locker room will be crying about D-Hop today.

    Most of his (former) teammates, if they’re honest, would probably say they’re jealous.

    Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

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