National Football League

Titans take first big step toward rebuild by trading star safety Kevin Byard

Published Oct. 23, 2023 5:24 p.m. ET

The writing has been on the wall for these Titans: It's time to rebuild.

They gave it a shot to start 2023, running it back with the same veteran core that has defined this year-long iteration of Tennessee, by retooling around it. But at 2-4, losers of three of its past four games, this team has increasingly looked like it's going nowhere. And with a dearth of young talent and just five 2024 draft picks, it always made sense for Tennessee to strongly consider selling ahead of the Oct. 31 trade deadline.

The Titans have now officially adopted that strategy.

And it might be just the beginning.

Tennessee on Monday traded star safety Kevin Byard to Philadelphia, a source confirmed to FOX Sports. The Titans are acquiring safety Terrell Edmunds and much-needed 2024 draft capital — a fifth- and a sixth-round selection — in return.

If the Titans didn't trade Byard now, it's possible that 2023 was going to be his last season in Nashville anyway after he took a payout, the result of a revised contract.

But this is about more than Tennessee parting ways with an aging veteran on the wrong side of 30. Understand that Byard, a two-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro selection, represented half of the Titans' heart and soul defensively (the other half is defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons). Understand that Byard was the team's longest-tenured captain. Understand that he's been the most reliable player in a secondary that's been susceptible to explosive plays since the start of 2021.

With faces in and out of the back-end lineup due to injury the past couple years, Byard has been the one who has never missed time and the one who shored up issues. In his eighth NFL season, Byard has never missed a game. Coach Mike Vrabel had said in the past how he'd have to take the veteran safety off the field at times in practice so the secondary could learn to communicate without him. That's how much his voice has been integrated into the defense.

Byard has had a very quiet start to 2023 — 47 tackles, no pass breakups, no interceptions. But entering this year, he had at least four interceptions in five of the past six seasons, including 2022. Since 2016, when he entered the league as a third-round rookie, Byard is tied for second with 27 interceptions, according to Next Gen Stats. He's more than capable of giving the Eagles, at age 30, enough at safety to boost their Super Bowl aspirations.

He's still the kind of player that could've helped Tennessee if it was all-in on contention.

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Byard's trade begs the question: How many more veterans will be shipped out ahead of next week's NFL trade deadline? Star running back Derrick Henry could be gone, too. So could defensive lineman Denico Autry and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who was signed to a two-year deal in the offseason. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, currently battling an ankle injury, is in the last year of his contract.

Whether or not the Titans decide to hold on to some of these veterans until the offseason, the rebuild is on. Trading Byard signifies that.

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.