December 1st, 2021 at 11:06am CST by Zachary Links
Kenny Vaccaro is calling it a career. On Wednesday, the longtime NFL safety announced that he is stepping away from the game to focus on a new e-sports venture (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport).
“This isn’t a reflex decision for me; it’s something I’ve thought about for a long time,” Vaccaro said. “I’ve been a gamer for even longer than I’ve played football, and I’ve always thought of myself as a gamer first. So this is the realization of a long-term dream for me…Life doesn’t end just because you put down the helmet. You can reinvent yourself.”
Vaccaro, a 2013 first-round pick, spent his first five years with the Saints and started in 67 of his 68 regular season games. After that, he found himself in a severely depressed market for veteran safeties. But, after settling for a cheap one-year deal with the Titans in 2018, he parlayed a strong season into a four-year, $26MM extension.
The veteran made 42 for the Titans before his release earlier this year. In 2020, his last NFL campaign, he finished out with 62 stops, one sack, and five passes defensed. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus — which have never been especially fond of his work — gave him a 58.8 overall grade, slotting him just 68th out of 84 qualified safeties.
After 110 career games, multiple postseason trips, and over $28MM in career earnings, Vaccaro is now set to enter the e-sports arena.
The Titans are moving on from Kenny Vaccaro. Vaccaro will be cut to save $3.9MM in cap space with $3MM in dead money remaining (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport).
The former first-round pick joined the Titans as a free agent late in the 2018 cycle. After impressing in 13 starts, he re-upped on a four-year, $26MM deal, but he won’t see the second half of that contract in Tennessee.
Vaccaro started in all 42 of his games for the Titans across three years. Last season, he finished out with 62 stops, one sack, and five passes defensed. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus — which have never been especially fond of his work — gave him a 58.8 overall grade, slotting him just 68th out of 84 qualified safeties.
The Titans are trimming dollars and remaking their secondary all at once. Just yesterday, they released veteran cornerbackMalcolm Butler to free up $10.2MM for the coming year.
March 21st, 2019 at 10:20pm CST by Dallas Robinson
Let’s take a look at the details of a few recently-signed NFL contracts, with all links going to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle’s Twitter account:
Kenny Vaccaro, S (Titans): Four years, $24MM. $11.5MM guaranteed. $6MM signing bonus. $500K annual playtime, playoffs incentives (link).
Darius Philon, DT (Cardinals): Two years, $10MM. $5MM guaranteed. $4MM signing bonus. $700K available annually via playtime and sack incentives. $600K playtime escalator in 2020 (link).
Geoff Swaim, TE (Jaguars): Two years, $6.6MM. $1.25MM guaranteed. $500K signing bonus. $500K playtime, catches, yards, incentive in 2019 (link).
Ronald Darby, CB (Eagles): One year, $6.5MM. $4.5MM guaranteed. $3.5MM signing bonus. $2MM available via playtime, playoff, and Pro Bowl incentive. Contract contains four void years from 2020-2023 (link).
It appears the safety market is back on track. A key member from 2018’s mysterious market will receive a big raise.
The Titans and Kenny Vaccaro have reached an agreement to keep the former first-round pick in Tennessee long-term, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It’s a four-year, $26MM deal, per RapSheet, who adds this will come with $11.5MM guaranteed.
Vaccaro joined Tre Boston and Eric Reid, the latter being the centerpiece of last year’s slowdown, in having to wait months to land deals in 2018. The Titans swooped in and signed Vaccaro on the cheap before training camp, and with Reid having already re-signed to stay in Carolina, Vaccaro’s second team took similar action. Vaccaro’s deal comes in just north of Reid’s.
The former Saints five-year secondary piece started 13 games with the Titans last season. The safety/slot defender will be a part of Tennessee secondaries going forward, and while Landon Collins‘ Redskins deal will grab justified headlines, the seventh-year veteran’s re-up is a good sign for this year’s safety market.
Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro will miss time with an elbow dislocation, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Vaccaro will miss at least two weeks and potentially up to four.
The injury is obviously not ideal, but it looked a whole lot worse when he went down in the Titans’ 26-23 win over the Eagles. After resting up for a few weeks, Vaccaro will look to continue his strong play from the month of September. Through four games, Vaccaro has already recorded an interception and a sack.
The 3-1 Titans will face the Bills, Ravens, and Chargers in the next three games before their Week 8 bye. Depending on how things go from here, the team may opt to push Vaccaro’s return until Week 9, giving him nearly five weeks to recover.
August 11th, 2018 at 9:49pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg
The Chargers are seemingly never able to stay healthy, and this year hasn’t been any different. They’ve already lost Hunter Henry and Jason Verrett to season ending injuries. Last year’s second round pick, guard Forrest Lamp, has been expected to start for the team in 2018, but has been very slow in recovering from a knee injury that cost him his whole rookie season.
Michael Schofield is filling in for now, and in a recent interview with Dan Woike of the San Diego Union-Tribune, talked about his role. “I’m kind of a plug-and-play guy. I can play guard. I can play tackle. Right now, they need me at guard, so that’s where I’m going to be.” Woike echoes the sentiment many Charger fans have felt about Lamp, writing “even if Lamp is healthy, he still has much to prove, considering he essentially has not practiced since being drafted in the second round a year ago.”
Given Lamp’s history, it’s entirely possible Schofield ends up being a starting guard for the Chargers this year. Here’s more from the AFC:
Kenny Vaccaro only signed with the Titans earlier this week, but is already operating as the team’s starter according to Turron Davenport of ESPN (Twitter link). Davenport writes that Vaccaro has “taken pretty much all of the first-team reps” since signing with the team in the wake of Johnathan Cyprien’s season ending injury.
“Things aren’t looking great” for Juston Burris‘ roster chances, according to Matt Stypulkoski of NJ.com. The Jets’ fourth round pick in 2016, Burris hasn’t shown much through two seasons and appears likely to be cut at this point.
“It wouldn’t be a total shock to see the Jets in the mix” if the Raiders decide to shop Khalil Mack, writes Stypulkoski. Stypulkoski writes that the Jets “are looking to bolster the pass rush” so it sounds like whether it’s Mack or someone else, the Jets may be making a move soon.
The Titans have found their starting safety. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the team has signed veteran defensive back Kenny Vaccaro. The Titans had been hunting for a safety since Johnathan Cyprien was placed on the injured reserve earlier this week.
We heard the other day that the 27-year-old was set to meet with Tennessee, although it sounded like the front office had other options on their radar. Those reports indicated that the organization was also eyeing safety Eric Reid. However, as Rapoport tweets, multiple flight cancellations prevented Reid from visiting his suitor. With Vaccaro generating interest from other teams, the Titans decided they had to make a move. Vaccaro had already had visits with the Jets, Dolphins, and Colts.
The 2013 first-round pick should immediately contribute to the Titans secondary. While Vaccaro hasn’t been able to put together a healthy season since 2015, he was still plenty productive last year. In 12 starts with the Saints, the safety finished with 60 tackles, 1.5 sacks, seven passes defended, and three interceptions. Due to those numbers, the veteran earned a spot on our list of the best remaining free agents.
With Cyprien out for the season with an ACL injury, the Titans were trying to figure out who to start opposite fellow safety Kevin Byard. Veteran Kendrick Lewis was currently slotted in as the starting strong safety, although the Titans also could have eyed one of Brynden Trawick or Dane Cruikshank for the gig.
In the wake of losing safetyJohnathan Cyprien for the season, the Titans aren’t wasting any time in exploring outside options. The club has talked about safety Eric Reid and he could be brought in for a visit, head coach Mike Vrabel tells reporters. Meanwhile, Kenny Vaccaro will meet with the Titans on Friday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Vaccaro also offers years of starting experience, but he has been a victim of the league’s slow-moving free agent safety market this offseason. The Colts, Jets, and Dolphins showed interest in Vaccaro earlier this offseason, but we haven’t heard much about him in recent weeks. In his fifth season as a starter for the Saints last year, Vaccaro totaled 60 tackles, 1.5 sacks, seven passes defensed, and a career-high three interceptions.
Saints free agent safety Kenny Vaccaro is still on the market, but it’s not due to any health issues, Nick Underhill of The Advocate tweets. And, although the safety market didn’t develop as expected, Underhill anticipates that he’ll land somewhere before training camp starts.
It’s possible that Vaccaro turned down some low-cost deals early on in free agency, as Underhill notes that there was “no need [for him] to hurry and sign a deal when free agency opened.” He may have some regrets about that now, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Vaccaro won’t be able to find a team on a low-cost one-year deal.
The Colts, Jets, and Dolphins showed interest in Vaccaro earlier this offseason, but we haven’t heard much about him in recent weeks. While we wait to see where the former Saints safety will land, here’s more out of the South divisions:
Texans safety Tyrann Mathieu is the best newcomer to the AFC South, Sarah Barshop, Mike Wells, and Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com argue. Mathieu isn’t coming off a great year, but the Texans will mostly play Mathieu at his natural safety position which may allow him to thrive. After the Texans fell to last place in the NFL in points allowed, they’re certainly hoping that Mathieu will have a big impact in 2018.
In the same piece, ESPN.com’s Cameron Wolfe makes a case for Titans cornerback Malcolm Butler being the AFC South’s best new player. Although Butler’s curious benching in the Super Bowl has some concerned, he boasts 44 total pass breakups in the last three seasons, which is good for second most among all cornerbacks in the league since 2015. If things pan out, Butler could give the Titans the high-end defender they need to bottle up opposing receivers in the division like DeAndre Hopkins and T.Y. Hilton.
There are still plenty of impact free agents left on the board, including some big names. Here’s a look at some of the high-profile veterans that are still looking for work in advance of training camp:
Peterson has lobbied the Texans, Saints, Packers, Panthers, Dolphins, and Rams to sign him, but we have yet to hear of any reciprocated interest from those clubs. It’s possible that Murray and Peterson won’t sign unless a running back injury opens up an opportunity for them. Teams could also steer clear of Peterson altogether given his desire for a starring role despite his lack of star performance over the last two years.
Bryant is the biggest name on this list, but we shouldn’t expect to see him sign anywhere until July. There have been conflicting reports on his market, but the latest word indicates that he is receiving interest, despite concerns about his demeanor in the locker room.
Things have been eerily quiet for Maclin since he was displaced by the Ravens, though the Eagles and Cowboys considered him in the spring. We also haven’t heard a peep about Decker since his spring meetings with the Raiders and Ravens. Both players are roughly in the same boat – they were 1,000-yard receivers in 2015, but they are on the wrong side of 30 and haven’t done much on the field in the last two years. Still, both profile as low-risk/high-reward signings.
We ranked Barwin as a top-10 free agent pass rusher when the market opened, but he hasn’t garnered much interest this offseason. The Rams reportedly expressed interest in re-signing Barwin in mid-March, but they have since revamped their front seven and there is little room for additions. The rival Cardinals kicked the tires on him in April, but for one reason or another, they did not add him to a unit that ranked 17th in pressure rate and 24th in adjusted sack rate in 2017. Barwin’s veteran leadership could help him find a deal in the coming weeks, but he’s probably not a starting-caliber player at this point in his career.
Last year, Hankins waited patiently before signing a three-year, $27MM free agent deal with the Colts. The Colts bailed on that contract this past March, putting him back in the free agent bin. Hankins, again, is patiently waiting for his market to develop. New defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus did not see Hankins as a fit for his scheme, but he could be a solid addition for plenty of other teams. Hankins played in a 4-3 with the Giants but did well in the Colts’ 3-4 setup last year. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No. 20 interior defender in the league last year with tremendous marks for his work against the run. The Redskins met with Hankins soon after his release, but first-round pick Da’Ron Payne is now slated to hold down the starting nose tackle position. The Jets met with Hankins in April and that still looks like a logical fit to us.
There’s no longer a place for Bowman in the Raiders’ front seven after the signing of former Chief Derrick Johnson, but some team out there is likely to make a play for the veteran. Bowman lost all of the 2014 season and most of 2016 to injury, but he was healthy and productive in 2017.
Breeland is on the radar for the Cardinals, unless he isn’t. This was a bizarre trip through free agency for Breeland. He agreed to a three-year, $24MM deal with the Panthers earlier this offseason, but the deal was called off due to complications from an off-the-field foot injury. The former Redskin likely to land somewhere, but it will be for less than the $8MM/year deal he had with Carolina. The Colts and Cardinals met with Breeland in May.
