The Tennessee Titans' right tackle made a splash Tuesday morning, announcing he's going pro in something other than playing football.
Third-year lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere has joined Matthew Berry's Fantasy Life as their newest Fantasy Expert.
Petit-Frere isn't the first player to venture into fantasy content. Commanders RB Austin Ekeler has covered fantasy football as an active player for a couple of seasons with Yahoo. It makes for an interesting perspective, and in the case of a skill player, a curious dynamic where a guy can perceive and discuss himself as a fantasy asset.
While Petit-Frere isn't on anybody's fantasy team himself, an offensive line certainly impacts many players who are. And this news has been met with mixed reception by Titans fans for a couple of reasons.
Poor Timing
Surely this move has been in the works for some time, but the decision to announce his hiring on this particular week is rather unfortunate.
Petit-Frere isn't exactly in the good graces of Titans fans at the moment after a dreadful Week 2 outing against the Jets pass rush. By PFF's methodology, Frere allowed 9 pressures on his own. And if you ask Next Gen Stats, he set the NGS-era record with 13 (thirteen!) pressures allowed on 35 pass-blocking snaps. That's good for a 37.1% pressure rate allowed, the highest in a single game since 2018.
Now far be it from me to tell somebody what they can and can't do with their life. And assuming this is something he's passionate about, good for Nick for getting paid to do it.
However, it's completely understandable for fans to question the decision to get a side gig when you're currently struggling with your day job. Petit-Frere is going to have to improve his level of play in a hurry if he wants to keep his fantasy media involvement from being held against him by Titans faithful.
Gambling Suspension
The true irony of this announcement is Petit-Frere's recent history with violating the NFL's gambling policy.
At the beginning of training camp in 2023, the league handed down a bevy of gambling suspensions, and Nicholas Petit-Frere's name was on this list. His punishment wasn't on the severe end of the spectrum, indicating his infraction wasn't nearly as serious as some others have been. But nonetheless, he was suspended for the first 6 games of the season and the Titans had to scramble to find a suitable replacement.
New bylaws allowed him to be reinstated after just 4 games, though he didn't play again until Week 6. His 2023 season was cut even shorter when he suffered an injury in his third game back, from which he didn't return until the 2024 offseason.
The decision to make fantasy media a career less than a year removed from his gambling suspension comes across as a bold move. Many are perceiving it as brazen and tone-deaf.
It's important to note, Fantasy Life began as exclusively a fantasy football content platform, but they've since branched out into the betting space. As a "Fantasy Expert" and an active player, it's reasonable to assume his role will be strictly fantasy advice and content. As previously mentioned, we've seen active players do this kind of work without any issues before.
Ultimately, I don't care all that much about the suspension element of this situation. If Petit-Frere and his new employers are dumb enough to do something to get him in trouble with the league again, then he'll richly deserve his punishment. But I cannot fathom them making that kind of mistake.
What does matter here is his level of play. Titans fans were already going to turn on him if he doesn't improve significantly, and a perceived distraction such as this will only make things worse.
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