The Tennessee Titans are seeing a former player of theirs leave his latest spot in the NFL.

The San Francisco 49ers announced that they have cut offensive lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere. The move came after the team signed wide receiver Malik Knowles and moved pass rusher Josh Huff to the team’s roster after passing his physical.

Petit-Frere signed a contract with the Niners on May 9, shortly after he was cut by the Titans. However, his time with the 49ers wasn’t meant to last.

Petit-Frere was a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, where he was expected to be a big-time contributor for the Titans. However, he ended up becoming a bust.

He started 16 games in his rookie season, but things began to go downhill going into 2023. He violated the league’s anti-gambling policy while also dealing with injuries, resulting in just three appearances in 2023.

In 2024, Petit-Frere lost his starting job early in the season and was never able to recover, leading to his release back in April shortly before the draft.

Petit-Frere will look to catch on elsewhere going into the new season.

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Standing in the path of Tennessee baseball and a super regional appearance was Wake Forest.

The Vols won the regional game 11-5 to punch their ticket to supers.

Afterward, Demon Deacon coach Tom Walter met with the media. Here’s what he said.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Opening Statement…

“I would like to congratulate Tennessee on a game well played and advancing to the next round of the [tournament, the] Super Regional. What an incredible venue they have here and a great fan base. It’s been a pleasure playing here for the last four days. I’m proud of our guys and the way we battled. I hate that it’s over for our seniors and the guys we will lose to the draft, but I’m proud of the way we competed. Two great baseball teams gave it all today and we came up on the short end.”

On keeping Duncan Marsten in…

“I thought he was a good matchup for [him facing Manny] Marin. We had two outs and the nine-hole hitter up. I thought Marsten was the right matchup there. Probably should have had [Joe] Ariola ready for [Gavin] Kilen and then [Andrew] Fischer coming in behind him. There are two outs and it’s a 3-2 game if we get off the field right there. But give credit to Marin—he put a good swing on the ball and got it out of the ballpark.”

On his team having 16 strikeouts against Tennessee’s pitching…

“I think we [ended up with] more than that yesterday. Tennessee’s got power arms. The guys we saw today are guys who strike out a ton of hitters. We certainly needed to do a better job of putting more balls in play, but that’s easier said than done against those types of arms.”

On if they expected to see Liam Doyle…

“Yeah, we did expect that. We figured if they had the lead, they’d go to him and we knew we’d have our hands full. Coming back off that guy [on the short side] is not easy, you just try to get on time for his fastball. When he’s commanding it, like he did tonight, at the top of the zone, it’s darn near unhittable. Our guys battled, but they were just a little better than us tonight.”

On the early walks his team gave up…

“Griffin Green and Slim [Zach Johston] have not been great strike-throwers recently. We knew that was an issue, but the infield hit hurt us too. Slim made a good 3-2 pitch and we just got a little unfortunate there for getting out there. That changes that inning. When you give Tennessee, an offense like that, free 90s, they’re going to make you pay.”

On his conversations with players and retaining the roster…

“We certainly always have ongoing conversations about that stuff, but nothing official. Exit meetings will take place once we’re back on campus. We’re likely leaving tomorrow morning around 10 or 11 a.m. and should get back by mid to late afternoon. Some of those meetings may happen tomorrow night and into Wednesday. Within the next 48 hours, we should have a good sense of what our returning roster will look like.”

The Tennessee Titans enter the 2025 NFL season with one glaring and major change on their quarterback roster, thanks to their selection of Cam Ward atop this offseason’s draft.

For a rookie signal caller like Ward, there can be a wide range of expectations for how things could pan out during his first year in the fold. There’s a world where he surges onto the scene as a day one star under center, or can face the ups and downs a young quarterback making a transition to the pros can often have.

Even for a number-one overall pick like Ward, league history has shown us examples of both ends of that spectrum being on the table, regardless of being that highly esteemed top prospect.

Yet, in the mind of NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks, he sees the glass as half-full for the Titans and their rookie quarterback –– not just for how Ward may fare in year one, but also how he’ll factor in alongside Titans head coach Brian Callahan.

Brooks recently broke down his picks for the top-five new quarterback-play-caller duos that NFL defenses should be most worried about for the season ahead, where the Titans’ pairing of Callahan and Ward landed right in that mix.

“The marriage between the No.1 overall pick and Joe Burrow’s former tutor should add some spice to the Titans’ 26th-ranked offense that lacked pizzazz and pop with Will Levis under center in 2024,” Brooks wrote. “With Ward bringing the talent, tools and tenacity that reminds me of a young Steve McNair, the Titans have a quarterback with the ‘alpha dawg’ persona to lead an eye-popping offensive transformation in Nashville. As a pinpoint passer with the capacity to drop dimes from various arm angles, the rookie should easily connect with Calvin Ridley, Van Jefferson and Tyler Lockett racing down the field on crossers and diagonal routes, which will enable the Titans to showcase their QB1’s elite arm talent and impeccable timing.”

“Moreover, Ward’s superb passing skills will allow Callahan to utilize more pages of his creative playbook to punish defenses for overloading the box to slow down Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears in the backfield. Considering how Ward orchestrated dramatic turnarounds at Incarnate Word, Washington State and Miami, he could help Tennessee quickly become an offensive juggernaut in the AFC.”

It’s not to say Ward is on track to be the next Joe Burrow, but if Callahan can manage to unlock some similar shades of that immediate production out of his rookie quarterback in year one, that only means great things for this Titans offense.

Pairing Ward with an improved offensive line and a batch of new weapons compared to last season is certainly a nice help for how his rookie season could soon transpire. However, none of those offseason additions will have the chance to elevate the Titans’ rookie like Callahan can, set to be one of the most prominent voices in his ear for the foreseeable future, and one of the most critical people in the building to put him in a position to succeed.

If Callahan can put the pieces together to be the offensive guru he was once advertised as, this Titans offense could be a pleasant surprise for the year ahead.

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