Tennessee Titans wide receiver Rishard Matthews catches a touchdown pass in front Chicago Bears free safety Adrian Amos during a November 2016 game in ChicagoNASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans’ passing game took a self-inflicted hit Thursday, when the team released veteran wide receiver Rishard Matthews after efforts to trade him failed.
General manager Jon Robinson said Matthews talked with him last week about being unhappy with his role in the offense, then came to him Monday requesting to be traded or released. The Titans talked with several teams, but nothing came from those discussions, Robinson said.
“It had reached kind of maybe a point of no return for him,” Robinson said. “I told him several times – several times – that I know you can help this football team. I believed in him. That’s why we signed him a couple years ago, and he’s been good for our football team the last couple years.”
The Titans already were without three-time Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker, who broke his right ankle in the season opener.
Matthews was one of the first free agents signed by Robinson after he became Tennessee’s general manager in 2016. He led the Titans with a combined 1,740 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns the past two seasons, a span in which he started 20 of 30 games.