Titans declined trade offers for 2024 NFL Draft Round 2 pick used on Texas DT T’Vondre Sweat

The Tennessee Titans were peppered with trade offers for the 2024 NFL Draft second-round pick that they used on Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat.

Titans general manager Ran Carthon said Friday that the team declined “eight or nine” trade offers for the No. 38 overall pick in order to get Sweat, who was arguably college football’s top defensive lineman last season but had to be vetted following an arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated earlier this month.

“We were fielding the calls, listening. But one thing we talked about was, let’s see how this board shakes out,” Carthon said. “We knew there was going to be an early run on receivers, and we knew that with the defensive tackles that were right there it was only a matter of time before it happened.”

More: Titans vetted 2nd-round NFL draft pick T'Vondre Sweat after arrest, again 2 weeks later

Sweat won the Outland Trophy last season, given to the nation's top interior lineman, and was a first-team Associated Press All-American. He played in all 14 games with eight starts for the Longhorns, recording 45 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, four PBUs and a blocked kick.

The Titans hosted Sweat on a pre-draft visit April 8, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, one day after he was arrested in Austin.

Carthon, Titans coach Brian Callahan, defensive line coach Tracy Rocker and assistant general manager Anthony Robinson went to Texas to visit with Sweat and his family two weeks later.

More: Titans pick T'Vondre Sweat of Texas at No. 38 of NFL draft 2024. Our scouting report

More: Grading the Tennessee Titans pick of T'Vondre Sweat at No. 38 in 2024 NFL Draft

Callahan said Sweat was too good to pass up at No. 38.

“It’s important to note too that just because there’s phone calls doesn’t mean they’re good deals. Doesn’t mean they fit for us,” Callahan said. “Some of these trades, you’re dropping down a significant level of player when you start dropping deep into the second. Sometimes the reciprocal value isn’t there. Everyone thinks they can pull one over and get a deal and that’s not how it works. There’s a cost to doing business.”

Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 2024 NFL Draft: Titans' Ran Carthon chose T'Vondre Sweat over offers