Titans fans are livid over the Jets’ Jarvis Brownlee trade heist

In the NFL, there’s an unofficial barometer for whether a trade worked: if the fans of the opposing team are furious, it usually means the other team got the better end of the deal. By that measure, the New York Jets just aced their latest move.

The Jets acquired cornerback Jarvis Brownlee in a trade with the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday, sending a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Titans in exchange for Brownlee and a 2026 seventh-round pick. Needless to say, Titans fans are livid.

Brownlee has started 16 of a possible 19 games since entering the league as a fifth-round pick in 2024. He's a starting-caliber cornerback who just turned 24 years old this summer and still has three years of team control remaining.

But for whatever reason, the Titans have decided to cut bait, acquiring virtually nothing in return for a player who figures to play a potentially significant role in the Jets' defense. Titans fans and media members alike are shocked and dumbfounded by the trade.

Jarvis Brownlee trade already looks like a steal for the Jets

Brownlee almost immediately stepped into a starting role in his first year with the Titans, playing over 900 defensive snaps despite being selected in the fifth round. He absolutely held his own as a starter, too.

His 59.4 Pro Football Focus grade ranked 81st among 116 qualifiers, but he really flashed in run defense. Brownlee's 77.7 PFF run-defense grade ranked top-10 among all qualified cornerbacks in 2024, while his 83.5 PFF run-defense grade currently ranks top-five at his position this season.

A Titans media member I spoke with called Brownlee “a good young cornerback” with “a bit of an attitude.” Even so, they said they were “shocked” by the trade, describing it as a “very, very weird” move by the Titans.

Brownlee's biggest issue to date has been penalties. The Louisville product was flagged nine times in 2024 and three times over the first two games of the 2025 season.

Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson had criticized Brownlee’s recurring penalty issues earlier this month, telling reporters that “the penalties must stop.” Apparently, the team wasn’t willing to give him another chance to fix the problem.

It’s worth noting that the Titans hired a new general manager, Mike Borgonzi, this offseason, meaning Brownlee wasn’t a pick made by the current regime. That likely played a role in their willingness to part with him for essentially nothing.

The Jets also have a connection to Brownlee on their staff: defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Chris Harris, who was the Titans' defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach in 2024.

No matter how you slice it, this has all the makings of a heist for Darren Mougey’s squad. The Jets landed a 24-year-old, starting-caliber cornerback with three years of dirt-cheap team control left on his rookie contract.

The reaction from Titans fans says it all. The Jets fleeced here.

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