<
        >

          NFL Nation

          Inconsistencies doomed Dorial Green-Beckham with new Titans regime

          play
          Eagles getting help at WR with Green-Beckham (1:39)

          ESPN Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky explains why Dorial Green-Beckham was considered expendable by the Titans. (1:39)

          • Paul Kuharsky, ESPN Staff WriterAug 16, 2016, 07:54 PM ET
            Close
            • Covered AFC South for five years for ESPN.com
            • Covered Oilers/Titans for The Tennessean
            • New Jersey native and Columbia graduate lives in Nashville with his wife and son
            Follow on X

          NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans got an early start at whittling their receiver group and added to what they considered a thin offensive line by dealing Dorial Green-Beckham to the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday for Dennis Kelly.

          Titans coach Mike Mularkey gave a candid assessment of Green-Beckham on the day he was dealt, just as he had throughout camp.

          “The inconsistency, that was there,” he said. “We had many conversations about having back-to-back-to-back days. It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying. But it never clicked in.”

          General manager Jon Robinson also spoke of Green-Beckham’s inconsistency.

          But in discussing Kelly, Robinson certainly made it sound like the Titans didn’t believe DGB had anything close to the value connected with being the 40th pick in the draft just a year ago.

          “It was really just value-based,” Robinson said. “Dennis was a guy we thought would help our football team, that would make us a more competitive football team up there [on the offensive line].”

          Kelly is heading into his fourth season. He was a fifth-round draft pick from Purdue.

          Clearly, the Titans didn’t think it was in their best interest to wait and see if it ever would click in for Green-Beckham.

          The Titans still have several receivers likely on the bubble for the 53-man roster after locks Rishard Matthews, Tajae Sharpe and Kendall Wright. Andre Johnson, Harry Douglas, Tre McBride and Justin Hunter could be competing for as few as one spot, or as many as three spots. Keeping them all would make for a very heavy roster of seven at the position.

          “I feel like everybody is on the chopping block; we’ve got a new GM,” Hunter said. “…Anybody can go at this point. We’re all fighting for a spot.”

          Meanwhile, rookie Sharpe, who’s been a starter since the middle of OTAs in the spring, gets to move out of the rookie neighborhood of the locker room. While a nameplate isn’t there yet, his stuff is in what was Green-Beckham’s locker.

          Kelly, who was due to arrive in Nashville on Tuesday, will start out as the backup left tackle, but he should get work up and down the line.