Levin, despite having had contracts with five teams, returns to the only team he’s appeared in games with. Since being drafted by the Titans in the sixth round of 2018, he’s appeared in 45 games, starting four total. Three of those starts came last year. The team waived him ten days ago but, ultimately, found a way to keep Levin under contract.
Jayon Brown has battled multiple injuries early this season, and the Titans will give the veteran linebacker at least three weeks off. Brown is now on Tennessee’s IR list.
After running into hamstring trouble earlier this season, Brown was on Tennessee’s injury report this week with a knee malady. The fifth-year veteran did not practice this week and had been ruled out of the Titans’ Week 5 game against the Jaguars.
Brown played 93% of Tennessee’s defensive snaps in Week 1 but has not cleared the 35% threshold since. He missed Week 2 with the hamstring problem. This will mark the second straight season in which Brown misses at least four games. An elbow injury sidelined him for six games to end last season.
The Titans re-signed Brown to a one-year deal worth $5.25MM, making this season critical for the former fifth-rounder’s long-term earning potential. Tennessee’s defense is coming off a brutally ineffective season, and Shane Bowen‘s unit enters Week 5 ranked 26th in points allowed. Brown’s absence will not help matters.
Bradley McDougald is back in free agency. Three weeks after signing the veteran safety, the Titans released him Tuesday. However, this essentially amounts to a demotion. The Titans are signing McDougald to their practice squad.
Since McDougald is a vested veteran, he does not have to pass through waivers to join Tennessee’s taxi squad. Salary guarantees may be a factor here. Teams can release vested vets now to avoid full-season guarantees, which take effect in Week 1, making it possible McDougald returns to the Titans’ active roster next week on a team-friendlier agreement.
The Titans signed McDougald to a one-year deal worth $1.1MM. That would have become guaranteed had McDougald been on Tennessee’s active roster in Week 1. The team has Dane Cruikshank and Matthias Farley in place as their backup safeties going into their season opener.
McDougald, 30, spent three seasons as a Seahawks starter before the team included him in 2020’s Jamal Adams trade. The Jets deployed McDougald as a starter during their 2-14 season but saw him go down midway through the year. The Jets let McDougald walk this year. The 49ers represented McDougald’s only non-Titans connection this offseason.
Tennessee also added offensive lineman Corey Levin and defensive back Chris Jones to its practice squad and dropped offensive lineman Derwin Gray from the 16-man unit.
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Colts, Jaguars, Texans and Titans moves are noted below.
Here are Wednesday’s AFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
The Jets added Johnson earlier this month. While the 35-year-old hasn’t appeared in an NFL game since 2018, there was some optimism that he could compete for a spot as Zach Wilson‘s backup. That ultimately wasn’t the case, and with James Morgan also getting waived, the team will roll with Mike White as the second QB.
Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: C Ryan Kelly, WR Zach Pascal, QB Carson Wentz; the trio landed on the coronavirus list due to being high-risk close contacts, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets
The Jets already signed Dan Feeney to give them some interior offensive line depth last month, and now they’re making another similar move. New York has agreed to a deal with Corey Levin, a source told Connor Hughes of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Levin entered the league as a sixth-round pick of the Titans back in 2017. He didn’t play as a rookie, but then appeared in all 16 games and made a start in 2018. He was waived at final cuts the following year, and spent a bit of time with the Broncos and Bears in 2019. This past season, he was with the Bears in training camp and briefly on the Patriots’ practice squad.
The Chattanooga product is still only 26, and is the latest dart throw for GM Joe Douglas. Levin has experience at both guard and center, so his versatility could help him make the team this fall.