On the surface, the trade between the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans submitted on Tuesday is a minor one. Most NFL fans will never even hear about it, and the rest aren't likely to care one way or the other. But for those paying attention, it's an incredibly odd move on the part of former Kansas City Chiefs exec Mike Borgonzi—one that points toward something else going on behind the scenes.
If you missed the news (we wouldn't blame you, if so), the Titans shipped cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. to the Jets in exchange for a late-round draft swap in 2026. In essence, the Titans punted on a starting cornerback to the Jets in exchange for the chance to get a chance to take the 200th best college prospect instead of the 225th. You get the drift.
Why care about this deal? Because it makes little sense. Borgonzi, who went from assistant general manager of the Chiefs to the GM role in Nashville last winter, has decided to punt on a solid asset (at least on paper) for a bag of footballs and an annual pass to the Country Music Hall of Fame. That's why it feels like something more is at work.
Mike Borgonzi's latest move with the Titans is a head-scratcher of a trade.
Brownlee was the Titans' fifth-round choice out of Louisville in 2024, which means he's only a second-year player with three more seasons of cost control at the going rate for a day three pick. Given that he played in all 17 games and started 14 of them in his rookie year, the Titans were paying pennies on the dollar for a starting corner in this instance.
That's not to say that Tennessee could never improve on Brownlee as a starter. Penalties were a real issue with him as an overly physical player, but his effort and toughness could work in the team's favor as well. Just three games into his second season, a trade for next to nothing is a quizzical thing.
Also, the last time we checked on the Titans' secondary, the unit was already exceptionally thin on talent. L'Jarius Sneed is an excellent player to employ in a team's pass defense, but his injury history is also well-documented, and the Chiefs decided to deal him to Tennessee for just that reason two years ago.
Brownlee is the other boundary starter opposite Sneed, who cannot be counted on to last a full season, with Roger McCreary slotted inside. Perhaps this speaks highly of Darrell Baker Jr. and Jalyn Davis's work outside while Brownlee was recently injured, but the NFL season is long and arduous, and Brownlee remained a positive asset for Tennessee no matter who was emerging behind him.
Clearly, the best Borgonzi could get in return for Brownlee was this mere return, so clearly there's more here than what any armchair GM can or will know. Otherwise another team would have offered him a better deal than the Jets. But from an outside perspective, it feels like the Jets stumbled onto a fairly obvious move, and Borgonzi's latest turn is a head-scratcher for Titans fans.