The Tennessee Titans may have finished at the bottom of the standings last season, but that disappointing result is already yielding a strategic benefit for 2025. As teams prepare to trim rosters from 90 to 53 players by Tuesday’s deadline, Tennessee holds the top waiver claim spot — a powerful tool that head coach Brian Callahan plans to take full advantage of.

“The benefit of being No. 1 in the waiver claim is that you have first crack at anybody you think upgrades your roster,” Callahan said Saturday, via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “I know [general manager] Mike [Borgonzi] and his crew have been hard at work, they’ve watched every player in the preseason, watched every preseason game of every team, and they have a really good feel for what’s out there.”

That first-overall waiver position applies to all players with fewer than four accrued NFL seasons who are released over the next few days. For Callahan and the Titans’ front office, it represents a rare chance to bolster the bottom half of the depth chart with young talent that other teams were forced to let go.

“You never know what is going to shake free, or not shake free, so you do your due diligence and you are ready for it when it comes,” Callahan said. “There is going to be opportunities to claim some players that will help us, and that will be a part of the ongoing process through Tuesday to make sure we try to find the best 53.”

That process also brings uncertainty for the players currently sitting on the edge of Tennessee’s roster. Making the initial 53-man cut will not guarantee job security, as waiver claims made after Tuesday can bump players off the active list. The churn is expected to be aggressive, particularly for rebuilding teams like the Titans, who are still assessing their roster under a new coaching regime.

This cycle of movement is common across the NFL following final cutdowns, but Tennessee’s position at the front of the waiver line gives them unmatched leverage during a critical evaluation window. For a team that struggled in 2024, the chance to identify and acquire young, developing talent without competing bids could make a tangible difference by Week 1.

Callahan, entering his first year as head coach in Nashville, is overseeing a full-scale rebuild. The Titans are hoping to turn the corner quickly, and hitting on one or two players through the waiver wire could help jump-start that effort.

Whether those additions come on the offensive line, in the secondary, or at key depth positions, Tennessee will have every opportunity to reshape its roster over the coming days. And for Callahan, the work is just getting started.