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Broncos Linked to 164-Tackle LB Who Lost His Every-Down Role With the Titans After a Concussion
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- Broncos Linked to 164-Tackle LB Who Lost His Every-Down Role With the Titans After a Concussion
The Denver Broncos have missed 48 tackles in four games, according to PFF, and it has dragged down the run defense of a 2-2 team that is allowing 142.8 rushing yards per game. One new list of trade deadline candidates sends them a linebacker who has not missed a tackle all season.
CBS Sports named Denver the landing spot for Tennessee Titans linebacker Cedric Gray in its look at 10 players who could move before the Nov. 10 deadline. Gray made 164 tackles last season, fifth most in the NFL and a Titans single-season record. He is 23, and he has become a part-time player.
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How Cedric Gray lost his role
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) picks up a first down on his feet ahead of Tennessee Titans linebacker Cedric Gray (33) during the first half of an NFL football game at Huntington Bank Field, Dec. 7, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Gray missed the opener with a concussion, and the job he returned to was smaller. Rookie Anthony Hill Jr. took over in the middle, and in Week 4 at Baltimore Gray played 30 of 64 snaps while Hill played all of them and Cody Barton logged 53. Titans coach Robert Saleh praised all three afterward and pointed to sub packages that pull a linebacker off the field. He indicated the trend would continue, according to the team's website.
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What Gray has done with those snaps is the part Denver should notice. He owns a 74.8 run-defense grade from PFF , ninth among linebackers, with no missed tackles on 90 snaps. Alex Singleton leads the NFL in tackles but has missed six by PFF's count, and Justin Strnad has missed four. Strnad was blunt about it after the Week 1 loss at Kansas City. "The missed tackles we had as a unit were unacceptable, and we have to be better," he told The Denver Gazette .
The contract helps, too. Gray is on a fourth-round rookie deal that runs through 2027 at barely more than $1 million a year. That fits a Broncos team with about $6 million in cap space and would cover two playoff runs. It also means the 0-4 Titans have no reason to sell him cheap.
He is the second Tennessee player tied to Denver this week , after running back Tony Pollard. No report has the Broncos calling about either one, and CBS did not spell out its reasoning on Gray. The tackling numbers make the case on their own. Denver is back at Empower Field at Mile High on Thursday night against Seattle, with less than four weeks left to decide whether the linebackers it has are enough.
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Oct 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
