Dealing five-time Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins seems like an obvious move for the 1-4 Titans — provided another team is willing to pay the right price. But if Tennessee doesn’t like what’s being offered, there’s value in holding on to Hopkins for the final few months of his current contract. Yes, the 31st-ranked passing attack is scuffling, but Hopkins still carries a fair amount of the workload (20 targets, 14 catches, 175 receiving yards, one TD). Plus, if Will Levis is going to make any kind of progress as a quarterback in 2024, he obviously has a better chance to do so with Hopkins than without him.

Burks, meanwhile, has had little to do under new coach Brian Callahan, tallying four catches (on eight targets) for 34 yards. On his first target of 2024, he dropped the ball, and on the third, he lost a fight with Brandin Echols on a contested catch, resulting in Levis’ third interception of the season. In this past week’s loss to the Colts, Burks logged a season-low nine offensive snaps.

It is probably unfair, at least in terms of public perception, that Burks was drafted with the first-round pick in 2022 (No. 18 overall) that the Eagles sent over in exchange for A.J. Brown, who started fast in Tennessee and grew into a certified star in Philly. Burks missed 12 games over his first two seasons. He’s had his moments (including a seven-catch, 111-yard outing in his sixth pro appearance), but he has most definitely not lived up to the hopes of anyone who thought he might step in as Brown’s long-term replacement. That’s not how Ran Carthon would have to sell him now, though; rather, the Titans GM would just have to find a team who liked Burks as a prospect in 2022 and continues to have interest. Tennessee could boost its draft capital while giving Burks — who has one year remaining on his rookie deal after this season, plus a fifth-year team option for 2026 — a chance to jump-start his career elsewhere.