Less than a calendar year after signing him to a contract extension, the Titans have cut ties with general manager Jon Robinson, firing the executive with five games still to play in the 2022 season. Robinson's abrupt dismissal, first reported by NFL Media and made official by the Titans, comes days after Tennessee dropped a second straight game, with ex-Titans star A.J. Brown notably headlining the Eagles' Week 13 win over the team.
Robinson's sudden exit comes with the Titans still atop the AFC South, however, and on pace to host a playoff game. Vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden has been named interim GM in Robinson's place.
"Since becoming controlling owner in 2015," Amy Adams Strunk said in a team statement, "my goal has been to raise the standard for what is expected in all facets of our organization. I believe we have made significant progress both on and off the field through investments in leadership, personnel and new ideas. This progress includes the core of our business, the football team itself, which is regularly evaluated both by results (wins and losses) and team construction/roster building. I am proud of what we have accomplished in my eight seasons of ownership, but I believe there is more to be done and higher aspirations to be met.
"I want to thank Jon for his dedicated work to set this organization on an upward trajectory," Adams Strunk concluded, "and I wish him and his family the best."
Robinson, 46, was hired in 2016 after three years as the Buccaneers' director of player personnel. The Titans never had a losing season under his watch, going 9-7 in each of his first four seasons as GM, then improving to 11-5 and 12-5 the last two years, respectively. Since advancing to the AFC Championship Game in 2019, however, the Titans have gone 0-2 in postseason appearances. While they own a three-game lead in the AFC South with eyes on another playoff berth, they're fresh off a blowout loss to Philadelphia in which both sides of the ball were exposed.
Among Robinson's most notable player acquisitions include quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who arrived via trade in 2019; and running back Derrick Henry, a second-round pick in 2017. Brown, now with the Eagles, was also a dominant player in Tennessee, though his failed contract talks this summer, which led to the wideout's trade to Philadelphia, have prompted Brown to publicly criticize Titans brass in recent months.
