Jacob Martin and Amani Hooker each made three big plays against Cincinnati, fueling trade talk. Both are under contract for next season, and replacing them could cost Tennessee more than the picks are worth.
The Tennessee Titans are sitting at 1-7 during the bye week, and two defenders are catching a lot of trade deadline buzz. Edge rusher Jacob Martin and safety Amani Hooker are both playing at a level that has some fans wondering what kind of return Tennessee could get before the deadline.
I get the instinct, especially after the Jeffery Simmons trade fetched two first round picks, and a fourth last week. When your team is 1-7, everything with a pulse and a good stat line looks like a trade chip.
But I think those Titans fans are too eager to move away from players simply because they're performing well. In this case, it doesn't make sense.
The numbers are legit. Martin is tied for fifth in the NFL with 6.5 sacks. Hooker has an NFL-leading five interceptions.
Both did a big chunk of that damage in one afternoon. Martin and Hooker each had three against the Cincinnati Bengals in that overtime loss. That's the kind of game that gets a national audience paying attention, and it's the kind of game that gets a fanbase looking at the trade deadline like it's a clearance sale.
So the thinking goes like this: trade them away and get the highest value you possibly can.
The Titans should not do that.
Both players are under contract for next season. Hooker is under contract for two more seasons after this year.
That changes everything. These aren't rental players on expiring deals who are going to walk in March. Tennessee is already accounting for them financially. They're on the books, they're in the plans, and they're playing at a high level on the field.
Now, what would the return even look like? The A to Z Sports Trade Simulator thinks the Titans could maybe, at best, get a fourth-round pick for Hooker. For Martin, maybe a fifth-round pick at best.
A fourth and a fifth round pick is far from the value that made the Simmons trade worth doing.
And here's where it gets goofy. If Tennessee ships both of them out for mid-to-late Day 3 picks, what happens next offseason? The front office is going to have to sign a veteran edge rusher and a veteran safety to basically be the next version of the two guys they just traded. Guys who were already under contract. Guys who were already playing well.
You'd be spending money and roster resources to replace production you already had in the building. That's going in a circle and calling it a rebuild.
I'm not against selling at the deadline in general. A 1-7 team should absolutely be open for business.
If a player is on an expiring contract ( except for Tony Pollard ), you can move off of him. That's how you squeeze value out of a lost season. The player is likely gone anyway, so getting a pick back is pure profit.
Martin and Hooker don't fit that category. The Titans already have them penciled into the future, and they're giving Tennessee exactly what you want from veterans on the roster.
That's the part I think gets lost when a season goes sideways. A young team still needs veterans to play, to set the standard in the meeting room, and to show the younger guys what it looks like to produce on a Sunday. You can't build a winning roster entirely out of draft picks and hope. You need guys who can actually line up and make plays.
Hooker leading the league in interceptions and Martin sitting near the top of the sack leaderboard? They're actually out-performing their current Titans contracts.
Trading productive players feels like progress when the record is ugly. It scratches that itch of "doing something."
But a fourth- and a fifth-round pick aren't worth creating two more holes on a defense that already has plenty of work ahead of it. Keep the players who are under contract, playing well, and already part of the plan.
Either way, the trade deadline chatter isn't going anywhere until the deadline passes. If Tennessee does pull the trigger on either one, I'll be right here asking who the plan is to replace them… and how much it's going to cost.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Titans would create two problems they already solved by trading away Amani Hooker, Jacob Martin at NFL Trade Deadline
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