Ben Niemann‘s June Cardinals signing last year led to considerable playing time. After a season in Arizona, the former Kansas City UDFA will end up in Tennessee.
The Titans and Niemann agreed to terms Monday. This is likely a low-cost accord, but Niemann will have a chance to compete for a job on Mike Vrabel‘s team soon. The Titans began their offseason workouts today.
Despite being a mid-June Cardinals addition, Niemann ended up starting nine games for the struggling team. The nine starts marked a career-high total for Niemann, who spent four seasons with the Chiefs but did not generate much interest in free agency last year. Niemann, 27, will join a Titans team in transition at linebacker.
Tennessee moved on from both David Long and Zach Cunningham this offseason, releasing Cunningham and letting Long sign with the Dolphins on just a two-year, $11MM deal. New Titans GM Ran Carthon added ex-49ers starter Azeez Al-Shaair on a one-year, $5MM pact. The former Fred Warner–Dre Greenlaw sidekick should be expected to anchor Tennessee’s linebacking corps, which did not have Long or Cunningham available too often last season.
The team should also be viewed as a candidate to draft a linebacker fairly early this year, but Niemann will have an opportunity to join Al-Shaair and 2021 third-round pick Monty Rice as a regular. Cunningham remains unsigned.
An Iowa product, Niemann tallied a career-high 70 tackles last season; Pro Football Focus viewed his part-time work as effective. The advanced metrics site graded Niemann just inside the top 30 among off-ball linebackers last season, grading his 2022 as far better than his Chiefs seasons. Niemann, who has six career fumble recoveries, started 12 games with the Chiefs from 2018-21.
Prior to signing Niemann, the Titans worked out he and two other linebackers. Nick Kwiatkoski and ex-Niemann Cardinals teammate Tanner Vallejo auditioned for the Titans, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 tweets. Vallejo, 28, started five Cardinals games last season. After his Raiders release, Kwiatkoski, 29, spent the season with the Falcons; he played in 12 games with no starts in 2022.