Sources: Titans acquire WR Woods from Rams

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans have acquired wide receiver Robert Woods from the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 2023 sixth-round pick, sources confirmed to ESPN on Saturday night.

Woods tore his ACL Nov. 13 and was due a $3.5 million roster bonus from the Rams Sunday. The veteran wide receiver became available after Los Angeles signed free agent receiver Allen Robinson to a three-year, $45 million contract last Thursday.

The Titans’ acquisition of Woods gives them a viable option as the team’s No. 2 wide receiver. Tennessee released Julio Jones on Wednesday with a post-June 1 designation. The move saved the Titans $9.5 million in cap space. Woods holds a $13.5 million salary cap hit in 2022. The 30-year old receiver signed a four-year, $65 million contract with the Rams in 2020. He has no dead cap hit in the remaining years of his contract.

Woods, 29, was a second-round choice by the Buffalo Bills in 2013 out of USC, and had 45 receptions last season for the Super Bowl champions, totaling 556 yards and four touchdowns before suffering the major knee injury. He was a key cog in the offense early on, as the Rams built up momentum and chemistry with new quarterback Matthew Stafford, but played in only nine games. Meanwhile, Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. became Stafford’s primary targets en route to the title.

Though he didn’t suit up with his teammates for the Super Bowl, Woods did speak with reporters prior to it, and expressed his appreciation for the postseason run.

“I feel like recently I was able to overcome that feeling of like ‘Ah man, not being a part of it,'” Woods said at the time. “I feel like the team has been really, really big on like ‘You’re a part of this, you’re a part of this, you’re a part of this.’ Initially, you’re fresh out of being injured, fresh out of surgery and you’re like ‘Man, I was just doing that a few weeks ago’ … But really, I feel like I was able to get past that and able to really enjoy this whole playoff experience.”

Many teammates lauded the attitude and approach Woods took through the journey, including Stafford.

“Robert Woods is the L.A. Rams,” he said. “When I think about him, I think about the toughness. I think about the attention to detail. I think about unselfishness, and I think about all of the things that we talk about as a team that we want to be. That’s bottled up into one person.

“Few guys on our team care more about other guys than Robert Woods.”

Woods has 7,077 receiving yards and 35 touchdowns for his career on 570 receptions.