A bit of unexpected news arrived on Monday when the Tennessee Titans released veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett. Adam Schefter reported Lockett requested, and was granted, his release. His snap-count workload in recent weeks indicated the Titans were over the experience.
Lockett played a season-low 14 snaps in Sunday’s defeat to the New England Patriots. He requested his release the following day. His replacement, rookie Chimere Dike, registered four receptions for a career-high 70 yards and his first
career touchdown. The average fan may think replacing Lockett with Dike was a Mike McCoy decision, but it had already been trending that way in the final weeks under Brian Callahan.
Dike outsnapped Lockett 33-17 in the Week 5 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. The rookie then outsnapped the vet again 34-20 versus the Las Vegas Raiders. Callahan was then fired, but the decision to play Dike over Lockett was obviously a collective staff decision, since it continued versus the Patriots.
With all due respect to Lockett’s legacy, claiming he looked past his prime is putting it lightly. He accumulated 10 receptions for 70 yards in Tennessee. Here’s a fun trivia question. Randy Moss produced more receiving yards (80) as a Titan than Lockett did.
The Titans have a well-documented history with adding legendary receivers who have nothing left. Moss, Andre Johnson, Julio Jones, Robert Woods, and Tyler Boyd. Lockett was arguably worse than all of them, in terms of remaining skill-set.
The 1-6 Titans should be playing young players. They are in fact-finding mode as they prepare for another difficult offseason that requires them to acquire blue-chip talent and turn over the roster. Letting receivers like Dike and Elic Ayomanor grow and develop alongside Cam Ward is among the few remaining points of the 2025 season.
Lockett was a low-cost whiff in Tennessee. At least we’ll always have the fumble-interception-touchdown!
