The Tennessee Titans are in football purgatory. They’re probably not bad enough to get a top pick, but they’re definitely not good enough to contend. The reasons for this are plentiful, but it’s now to the point where the team is completely unwatchable.

If you follow The 1796, you know we’ve advocated for a complete rebuild. It appears that general manager Ran Carthon is at least leaning into a slight rebuild after trading Kevin Byard. The amount of Titans fans who thought of Kevin Byard as a modern Ed Reed was perplexing to me. Byard, over the last season-and-a-half, has been an average safety who’s paid like an elite one. The fact that the team shedded his salary AND got a couple of picks? I don’t understand how one could be mad at that.

However, this should not be the only trade the Titans execute before the deadline. DeAndre Hopkins, Derrick Henry, and Denico Autry are among the other names that should be shopped. Would it be painful to see those guys go? Sure it would. But you know what else would be painful? Sucking for years with no young talent or draft capital.

It’s time to accept it, Titans fans: this core is not good enough to win. Sure, the team probably could buy at the deadline, and hope to God they win the AFC South. But, even if they could, who cares? This team would not be capable of anything more than a first-round exit, at best. The team needs to be competitive before the new stadium opens, and that won’t happen if we keep clinging to overpaid and underperforming veterans.

Additionally, there’s absolutely no reason why Will Levis shouldn’t start every game for the rest of the season. What advantage do you possibly get from playing Ryan Tannehill? The only thing that would happen is the Titans would end up with a worse draft pick.

Playing Malik Willis also makes no sense. Willis has shown absolutely nothing to make us think he can ever be even an average starter in this league. Any snap he gets is one less snap that Levis isn’t getting, and that’s counterintuitive.

So, to recap: the Titans should trade anyone with a pulse that has value. I’d be open to trading Treylon Burks or Kristian Fulton, but I have no idea why anyone would want either of them. Also, Levis should be the starter. You have to know if he sucks or not before the season ends.

I hate this team. See y’all next week.