The Tennessee Titans sent pass rusher Dre’Mont Jones to the Baltimore Ravens at the trade deadline. With Tennessee out of the playoff picture and Jones heading to free agency, it was a classic half-year rental.
Titans get: 2026 fifth-round pick (No. 142 overall)
The pick the Titans received from the Ravens in exchange for Jones originally belonged to the Jets. Given that New York had just won their first game in Week 8, Tennessee made a shrewd move by targeting their pick.
The trade included a condition that upgraded the compensation to a fourth-round pick if Jones recorded two sacks over the rest of the season and the Ravens made the playoffs. The veteran edge rusher put up 2.5 sacks in Baltimore, but rookie kicker Tyler Loop sunk the team’s playoff hopes when he missed a would-be game-winner against the Steelers in Week 18.
The Titans will have a chance to use the pick they received in exchange for Jones on Day 3 of the draft.
Depending on the numbers, Jones did both better and worse in Baltimore. In terms of traditional counting stats, his 4.5 sacks and five tackles for loss with the Titans exceeded his 2.5 sacks and two TFLs as a Raven. But his 8.1% pressure rate and 11.5% pass rush win rate jumped to 11.7% and 14.1%, respectively.
The Ravens badly needed a boost to their pass rush, and Jones certainly provided it. Despite playing just nine games in Baltimore, he ranked third on the team in pressures and posted at least three in all but one game.
That production may have helped the Titans, but, still in the middle of their rebuild, it made plenty of sense to get guaranteed draft compensation for Jones. It is also worth noting that Jones’ three-year, $36.5 million deal from the Patriots in free agency is expected to net the Ravens a fifth-round compensatory pick in the 2027 draft, per Nick Korte of OverTheCap . There is no way of knowing if Jones would have received a similar sum (and the Titans a similar pick) had he stayed in Tennessee, so picking up an early fifth-rounder a year earlier is still a good bit of business.