The Tennessee Titans have spent the past year acting like a team that wants to get better now, not later. That’s the part that makes their 2026 outlook so interesting. For all the talk about a rebuild and a future draft haul, the roster they’ve put together looks built to compete for real, immediate progress.
That tension will show up fast once the season starts. Tennessee opens against a New York Jets team that, as the source article notes, is leaning on the most turnover-heavy passer in the NFL.
That game should tell us a lot about where the Titans are headed. If they handle a winnable matchup, the three-win totals from their last two seasons stop looking like the ceiling.
If they stumble there, and especially if they lose by far the easiest game of their first month, the road out of the Callahan years starts looking a lot longer with the Philadelphia Eagles looming in Week 2.
Robert Saleh has inherited the kind of year-one setup that usually comes with a full reset, but Tennessee hasn’t approached the offseason like a team content to sit still. The Titans have brought in veteran playmakers on both sides of the ball, added experienced coordinators, and attacked the draft with an eye on long-term building blocks. That doesn’t look like a front office planning to live at the bottom and chase a huge 2027 draft class.
The spending backs that up. CBS Sports listed Tennessee with the ninth most expensive payroll in the NFL this season, at $345.3 million. That’s not the profile of a team waving the white flag on the year.
There’s still a version of the rebuild argument that makes sense. No team goes out there trying to lose, but some franchises do take the slower path, stockpiling talent and waiting to burst forward together.
Jeremiah Smith, who just went for two scores and 151 yards in his 2026 debut with Ohio State, is the kind of prospect that helps fuel that kind of thinking. But Tennessee already used its draft capital on another Buckeyes receiver, Carnell Tate, and the rest of the roster additions point in a different direction.
On defense, the Titans added DE John Franklin-Myers, CB Alontae Taylor, and EDGE Jermaine Johnson. On offense, WR Wan'Dale Robinson brings another veteran presence with four years of experience. Those are practical moves, not placeholder ones.
The bigger point is simple: this roster got better in a lot of places, and it got better with the present in mind. However the Titans want to frame it, the plan does not look like one designed to be irrelevant all season and settle for another top-five pick.
In Other News...
Titans Face 3 Week 1 Decisions That Could Define Salehs Start
Robert Salehs first regular-season lineup in Tennessee is already drawing some interesting internal debates, and the opener could offer the first real clues about how he plans to use this roster. The case for Elic Ayomanor is straightforward enough: the rookie receiver has shown enough in preseason to merit a closer look, especially on a depth chart where the Titans can use another consistent target to settle the passing game.
The same is true for Anthony Hill Jr., whose development gives the defense a chance to grow into something more disruptive if the Titans are willing to expand his role early. And on offense, the discussion around Tyjae Spears is less about replacing Tony Pollard than about finding a better balance, with Spears potentially giving the passing game another layer if the staff leans into that matchup. None of these calls is locked in yet, but together they hint at how much Salehs start could be shaped by the way he handles a handful of young players right away. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Offense Just Got A National Verdict Fans Will Hate
USA TODAYs preseason offense rankings did not offer much encouragement for Tennessee, slotting the Titans 31st and putting the group near the bottom of the league before a snap has been taken. It is the kind of verdict that can stick with a team, especially one trying to move on from a rough offensive showing and prove the pieces around Cam Ward are finally trending in the right direction.
There are reasons for optimism inside the building, though, even if the national view is skeptical. The Titans added receivers Wan'Dale Robinson and Carnell Tate, worked to shore up the line with rookie Fernando Carmona, and locked up Peter Skoronski on an extension, all while keeping Ward in place as the starter. Whether those moves are enough to move the offense out of the leagues lower tier is still the real question, and it is one Tennessee will spend the season answering. [Read more 🡒]
Robert Saleh's Titans Face An Uncomfortable AFC South Reality
Robert Saleh is set to take over as the Titans head coach in 2026, giving Tennessee its third different coach in three years and another chance to steady a franchise that has spent too long searching for traction. The change comes after four straight losing seasons since 2021, a stretch that has left the Titans trying to rebuild both their identity and their place in a division that keeps getting tougher.
There is at least some expectation that Tennessee can improve, but the early read around the AFC South is still sobering. CBS Sports analyst Garrett Podell projects the Titans to finish last in a division that already includes the Texans, Jaguars and Colts, which means Salehs first major challenge may not just be raising the floor in Nashville, but closing a gap that appears to be widening around them. [Read more 🡒]