The Titans have said a lot about former first-round WR Treylon Burks this offseason as he enters a pivotal third season with an entirely new regime in charge than the one that drafted him in 2022.

The Titans’ actions speak the loudest by far, however. Tennessee prioritized not only adding Ridley to a monster contract in free agency but also signed veteran slot WR Tyler Boyd after the draft to reunite the former Bengal with Callahan, pushing Burks down to at least fourth on the depth chart. Burks took reps as a gunner on special teams during OTAs and minicamp and Callahan said contributing on special teams would be crucial for Burks to earn an active roster spot. That suggests Burks is fighting for a roster spot with guys like Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Kyle Phillips, Colton Dowell and sixth-round rookie Jha’Quan Jackson. If Callahan and GM Ran Carthon thought Burks was poised for a breakout season, he’d look like a bigger part of their plans. Unfortunately this isn’t surprising, as new regimes cast aside players all the time for “their guys,” even former first-round picks like Burks.

Burks has had a modest start to his career so far after being taken with the pick the Titans got for trading WR A.J. Brown to the Eagles. The expectations of replacing a player like Brown would have been unfair to put on most young wideouts but it was even worse for Burks because of how much development he needed coming out of Arkansas. He ran a limited route tree in college and even though he looked like a terrific athlete on tape, his Combine testing did not live up to the hype. He was not ready to be a primary “X” receiver who could dominate press man coverage from the jump.

As a rookie, Burks had 33 catches for 444 yards and one touchdown in 11 games. Injuries were an issue, as he battled through turf toe and a gnarly concussion. Those continued in his second season, as Burks sprained his LCL in training camp and then injured his patella early in the year. He came back for two games but left in the second with another concussion. His second year was even worse than his first with a final line of 16 catches for 221 yards.

It hasn’t all been bad. Burks went over 100 yards in a game against the Packers as a rookie and was off to a promising start in camp last year before his injury kneecapped his momentum. Combined with his draft pedigree as a former first-round pick, there’s enough to intrigue other teams — which is good because barring some kind of surprise, all signs point to Burks being finished in Tennessee sooner rather than later.

Burks is owed a shade over $2 million this year and $2.66 million in 2025, all of it guaranteed. There’s also a potential fifth-year option on the contract that is due next May. Overall, Burks is cheap but also not a minimum contract player, so that will be a factor for teams when gauging his trade value. The best the Titans could hope for is a fourth or a fifth-round pick, perhaps with some kind of swap going back. Training camp is the timeline to watch for a deal as the back end of the receiving corps starts to work itself out in Tennessee.

As far as teams who could be interested in Burks, the obvious factor is a need at wide receiver. Burks was drafted recently enough that his prospect profile will still weigh heavily with teams, so organizations who liked Burks a lot as a prospect will be among those with greater trade interest. He had around 10 official visits when he was coming out of college in 2022.

Here are the best potential trade fits for the Titans and Burks:

Cowboys

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has shown a willingness to take a chance on former high draft picks in the past and it doesn’t hurt that Burks is one of the best players to come out of Arkansas — Jones’ alma mater — in a few years. Dallas was one of the teams to host Burks for an official “top 30” visit in 2022 and also met with him for a formal interview at the Combine.

The Cowboys ultimately took WR Jalen Tolbert in the third round in 2022 but he has failed to distinguish himself so far and the team is a little lacking for weapons around WR CeeDee Lamb. Burks would compete with Tolbert to start in three-receiver sets. He’d also add a little bit more of a physical, power-forward dynamic to Dallas’ wideout group.

Jets

The Jets were doing extensive homework on the receiver class in 2022 and ultimately settled on Garrett Wilson with the No. 10 overall pick. But Burks was another player they had in for an official visit and looked into drafting. It’s safe to say they made the right call.

Now there’s a chance they could get both. New York already has its Plan A for its starting three receivers with Wilson, third-rounder Malachi Corley and former Chargers WR Mike Williams. But Williams is recovering from a torn ACL and is only signed for one year. Burks would upgrade the depth behind those three and give the Jets another young option to try to develop into a future starter.

Giants

In an ESPN article about Burks as a prospect, there was an anecdote about how the Giants were enamored with Burks’ hobby of hog-hunting — no guns allowed. The piece notes Burks met with “everyone” which presumably includes HC Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen, but they went a different direction with their two first-round picks in the top ten and Burks wasn’t on the board in the second round when they elected to address their need at receiver.

The Giants have used second, third and first-round picks on WRs Wan’Dale Robinson, Jalin Hyatt and Malik Nabers in the past three drafts Daboll and Schoen have run but they could still use more weapons on offense. Burks also brings a blend of size, physicality and athleticism that the Giants don’t have in their receiver room right now. With two more years left on his rookie deal, he’d be another young, affordable option.

Lions

The Lions brought Burks to Detroit for a visit before the draft but ended up trading up for WR Jameson Williams instead as they fortified their receiving corps. Williams has had a slow start to his career due to an ACL injury and a gambling suspension but the reports this spring have been positive. He’ll push for a role behind WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, TE Sam LaPorta and the running back duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.

The depth behind St. Brown in Detroit’s receiving corps isn’t great but the team manages because anyone other than St. Brown is going to be at best fourth in the pecking order for targets. That said, if the Lions wanted to take a stab at upgrading the depth, a trade for Burks could make sense. He…

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