The Tennessee Titans resurrected a name not heard by Kansas City Chiefs fans for quite some time on Thursday with the news that the team was hosting free agent tight end Jody Fortson. After more than a year away from the field, it appears Fortson is still interested in playing the game at the age of 30 and after numerous injuries.
The potential return of Fortson to the league is intriguing on multiple levels. The primary one is simply the amount of time that he's been gone. Fortson tore his ACL one week after his elevation to the active roster in October 2024. His agent made it clear he was "fully healthy" one year later, but he still failed to land a gig during the 2025 campaign. Now heading into the '26 season, Fortson is giving it a go with a bit more distance from the torn ACL.
That the Titans were the team to give Fortson a free-agent visit is not surprising. The general manager is Mike Borgonzi, who was the Chiefs assistant GM before taking the post. Considering Borgonzi was with K.C. since Scott Pioli was in charge of the front office, he was around for the entirety of Fortson's career with the team as well.
The Titans’ visit may be more about keeping Jody Fortson’s name alive than a real roster fit.
At the present time, Fortson is still a free agent. It's possible that Tennessee has very real interest in him and will sign him at any moment to bolster the roster. Borgonzi has already called on multiple former Chiefs to join him in Tennessee, including cornerback Joshua Williams and defensive end Malik Herring. Roster turnover is natural when a new regime comes in.
But that's where things look interesting. The Titans already have a nice rookie in Gunnar Helm providing some production at the position. Borgonzi then also signed two tight ends early in free agency with the signings of Daniel Bellinger from the New York Giants and Kyler Granson from the Philadelphia Eagles. The former is being paid as a clear upside play for more reps now that he's away from the Big Apple, which leaves Helm and Granson as quality depth.
Esentially, the Titans have already made offseason upgrades at the position, and this year's draft class is especially deep at the position. There appears to be little room on the roster, even the 90-man version, for a tight end two years removed from the game who is now 30. Fortson's injury history also unfortunately includes much more than the most recent torn ACL.
What makes more sense is that an old friend gave Fortson a chance to say he worked out for a team in 2026. It's a move that gives him relevance, and churns out some fresh chatter about a tight end who last generated headlines in '24. Perhaps we're wrong and Fortson lands with Tennessee. We certainly hope so, since talent has never been the issue with Fortson at any point, going back to his first days in the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Chiefs in 2019.