Ran Carthon Fired as Titans GM; Tennessee Has No. 1 Pick in 2025 NFL Draft

The Tennessee Titans announced Tuesday they fired general manager Ran Carthon after just two seasons. Brian Callahan will continue in his role as head coach.

"It's impossible to ignore that our football team hasn't improved over the past two years," controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. "I am deeply disappointed in our poor win-loss record during this period, of course, but my decision also speaks to my concern about our long-term future should we stay the course."

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders was among those shocked by the news. Fans will inevitably read something into his reaction since the Titans have the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft and could select his son, Buffs quarterback Shedeur Sanders:

Carthon's ouster is surprising on two levels.

Tennessee sided with the GM last offseason during an apparent power struggle with head coach Mike Vrabel, who wanted to wield more authority over personnel matters. Now, the Titans have not only fired a head coach with a .545 winning percentage but also sent their GM packing a year later.

Then there's the fact the franchise wasn't exactly considered a serious contender when the year opened. Per Spotrac, Carthon and the front office spent the third-most money in free agency ($238.7 million), but here's a small sampling of where various outlets had the Titans in their preseason power rankings: 24th, 28th, 28th, 26th and 27th.

Maybe one could argue that Carthon didn't sign the right players, but a better supporting cast might've been wasted anyway when Tennessee was leaning on Will Levis at quarterback.

And while Levis was a Carthon pick, Tennessee didn't have a realistic path to getting Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud in the 2023 draft, and moving up to get Anthony Richardson might've been a bigger mistake at this point.

Carthon inherited a tough situation.

Tennessee's general manager and head coach weren't on the same page from the start, and the roster needed a major overhaul. Jon Robinson, Carthon's predecessor, had early success in the draft after taking over in 2016 but proceeded to have some big whiffs. Trading A.J. Brown and using a first-rounder on Treylon Burks will be the lasting image from Robinson's tenure.

Maybe Carthon was a bad hire from the start, but firing him now only reflects poorly on the Titans.

As bad as things were on the field, earning the No. 1 pick at least offered the fanbase a source of optimism for the years ahead. Making a GM change will dampen a lot of that enthusiasm.