NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Indications are the Titans’ surprising move of Javis Brownlee to the Jets for what amounts to a move up from the seventh round to the sixth in the 2026 draft comes as a result of both the team and Brownlee feeling like a change of scenery was needed.
While parting with a young, cheap, feisty starter seems odd, the Titans are at the bottom and trying not only to gather talent -- where Brownlee fit -- but also to put together the right mix of people -- where he may not have.
Nonetheless, it's difficult to come to terms with a bad team with a thin roster parting with a player who's had a pretty good degree of success in the context of what they have been.
Brownlee’s penalty issues and lack of discipline were on full display in Week One, with three in Denver and a bad post-game reaction where he spoke as if he would not change his ways.
Dennard Wilson said the fouls were unacceptable and Brownlee did play cleaner in Week Two before missing the Colts’ game with an ankle injury that had him in a boot.
He’s the type of player you can like having on your team if he’s toeing the line properly, but he has the potential to become a hindrance if he crosses it. The deal indicates Titans brass came to believe he wasn't navigating it well or allowing them to guide him.
They will turn to Jalyn Armour-Davis, a waiver claim from Baltimore when NFL rosters were cut to 53, as well as Darrell Baker, who has not played as well as he did last season so far.
I know while Brownlee was a starter outside for this version of the team, it thinks he is better positioned as a nickelback. This move surely helps the leverage of Roger McCreary, the starting nickel who’s in the final year 
of his rookie deal. He declared in August that “this season is personal.”
No matter how well he plays, and how healthy L’Jarius Sneed is in his second year with the Titans, they seem likely to move on after this season. They can get out of a $15,2 million non-guaranteed base salary in 2026 but cutting him, absorbing an $8.1 million cap hit.
That could leave them in a position to be searching for two outside starters.
They will also need a top edge rusher, a top receiver and a top running back.
That's what makes it hard to come to terms with the idea of them parting with a talented starting corner, not matter how much trouble he might have been at such an early stage of his career.