By MIKE HERNDON, columnist
Along with having the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Titans also get the top waiver claim through Week 3 of the season. While it’s nothing compared to the opportunity to select Cam Ward, it is a useful tool that they will finally get to wield in a significant manner on Wednesday, when close to 1,000 players will be put on waivers as all 32 NFL teams cut down from 90 to 53 players.
One important distinction to note is that players are only subject to waivers if they are not vested veterans, meaning they have less than four accrued seasons as NFL players. So, many of the bigger-name players, like former Bengals
cornerback Mike Hilton, who was released by the Dolphins Monday, are not subject to the waiver process. They are free to choose a new team and sign immediately upon being released.
Players who are subject to waivers – mostly young players on their rookie contracts – are required to go to whichever team they are awarded to in the waiver process. Additionally, the waiver order does not change after a player is claimed. The Titans can claim as many new players as they’d like and be guaranteed to get them all on Wednesday.
It’s essential to have realistic expectations for the type of players the Titans might acquire in this process. Obviously, the players who will be on the wire will have been deemed by other NFL teams to not be among their best 53 on the roster.
The very best of the players tabbed to be cut from their current teams will be shopped around and likely traded for late-round picks in the 2026 or 2027 drafts, a process that has already begun with the Eagles making several trades with players coming and going over the last couple of days.
The Titans are not going to be landing any stars or starter-level players through this process; however given the tremendous lack of depth on this roster that has built up on this roster due to a giant black hole in their draft classes between 2020 and 2022, GM Mike Borgonzi should still be able to find upgrades.
To set realistic expectations for what the Titans might turn up in the roster churn that is set to come this week, I took a look at the results for the last 10 teams to hold the top waiver spot. Last year, the Panthers used the top waiver claim position to add six new players:
· CB Keenan Isaac
· CB Shemar Bartholomew
· CB Tariq Castro-Fields
· OLB Jamie Sheriff
· LB Jon Rhattigan
· G Jarrett Kingston
The year before, the Bears claimed just two from the top spot:
· EDGE Khalid Kareem
· S Quindell Johnson
In 2022, it was Jacksonville with the top waiver spot, claiming five:
· S Tyree Gillespie
· RB Jamycal Hasty
· K Riley Patterson
· WR Kendric Pryor
· LB Ty Summers
The Jaguars also had the top spot in 2021, claiming just one:
· WR Tyron Johnson
The 2020 Bengals also just took one:
· G Deion Calhoun
The 2019 Cardinals were more active, adding five from the waiver wire:
· OT Brett Toth
· OT Justin Murray
· DL Jonathan Bullard
· CB Kevin Peterson
· CB Charles Washington
The 2018 Browns also claimed five:
· DL Carl Davis
· DL Ifeadi Odenigbo
· LB Tanner Vallejo
· DB Tavierre Thomas
· C Aaron Neary
In 2017, the Browns also had the top waiver spot, claiming five again:
· WR Reggie Davis
· DB Michael Jordan
· DT T.Y. McGill
· QB Josh Woodrum
· WR Kasen Williams
The 2016 Titans also had the top waiver spot, but claimed just one:
· TE Jace Amaro
The 2015 Bucs were more active, claiming five:
· DE Kourtnei Brown
· LB Jeremiah George
· QB Ryan Griffin
· LB James-Michael Johnson
· C Eric Kush
That comes to an average of 3.6 players claimed by the top waiver spot over the past 10 years, with a high of six and a low of one. My guess is that the Titans hit the over on that average, given some of the depth issues at several positions on the roster.
Just reading through the list of names, you can see that these are not superstars. In fact, out of the 36 players listed here, just seven of them – less than 20 percent – started a single game for the team that claimed them.
The 2019 Cardinals were easily the most successful team of this group, getting a combined 32 starts from Justin Murray (20), Jonathan Bullard (6), and Kevin Peterson (6). The other nine teams got just six total starts from the 30 position players claimed in the last decade, not including kicker Riley Patterson, who did serve as the Jaguars' primary kicker for the 2022 season.
Tennessee’s need for an impact edge rusher will not be filled through the waiver claim process. That doesn’t mean that depth can’t be bolstered. The fact is that the Titans' initial 53-man roster, which will be announced on Tuesday, will include several players that would not come close to making the roster for a top-end NFL squad.
Using PK’s 53-man roster prediction as a guide, I’d say that the players whose spots would be in most imminent danger would be:
· OT Oli Udoh
· DL Timmy Horne
· EDGE Ali Gaye
· ILB Curtis Jacobs
· CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally
The Titans should be looking for upgrades at all of those positions and it wouldn’t be a bad idea for them to see if there might be a young quarterback worth developing into a better alternative than Brandon Allen as a backup.
Additionally, it’s worth keeping in mind that there can be a second wave of waivers that will happen as teams release players who made the initial 53 to make room for their claims on Wednesday. As mentioned above, the Titans will also have the first claim on any of those players, so it may be several days before those fringe roster players at Saint Thomas Sports Park can truly begin to pack their bags for Denver in Week 1.
Just don’t expect too much from their replacements.