Tennessee Titans News & Rumors

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/15/22

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Tennessee Titans

  • Signed: DE Gerri Green

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/22

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Hand suffered a torn quad in the Titans’ opener, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). He is undergoing surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season. A former fourth-round Lions draftee back in 2018, Hand has been with the Titans since last year. He played two defensive snaps Sunday.

Montgomery had battled a knee injury during the run-up to the regular season, but the veteran passing-down back played in the Patriots’ Week 1 contest. Montgomery caught three passes for 15 yards in New England’s loss. The Pats signed Humphrey, a former Saints wideout, midway through the offseason.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/22

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

  • Signed: DB BoPete Keyes

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

  • Released: WR Dai’Jean Dixon

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/12/22

Today’s practice squad moves from around the NFL:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/12/22

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Los Angeles Chargers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Robinson has been mostly a rotational defensive end with the Seahawks, but the Syracuse product has five sacks in his two seasons. Robinson suffered a knee injury in Seattle’s preseason finale. He can return after four games, though teams only have eight IR-return slots — way up from the pre-COVID NFL but down from the 2020 and ’21 unlimited IR-return setup — this season.

The Seahawks will be without their primary long snapper, Tyler Ott, on Monday night. Ott is out with a shoulder injury. Tinker has been an NFL snapper since 2013, and the veteran specialist has experience with Seahawks kicker Jason Myers. The duo played together in Jacksonville during the mid-2010s.

Latest On Titans’ QB Situation

The Titans were one of several teams who used Day 2 of this April’s draft to add to their quarterback room. The addition of Malik Willis – who was seen by many as the signal-caller with the most upside in the 2022 class – led to questions about Ryan Tannehill‘s hold on the No. 1 spot. 

As confirmed by Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, however, “there is no competition or controversy” in Nashville at the position. Willis put up notable production after transferring to Liberty for the final two seasons of his college career, totaling 5,107 passing yards and 47 touchdowns. He added 1,822 yards and another 27 scores on the ground, showcasing the rushing ability which made him stand out from an underwhelming crop of prospects.

That, coupled with Willis’ preseason performances, fueled speculation that he could see the field relatively early. The Titans traded up to select him, and Tannehill’s disappointing 2021 season ended with a three-interception performance in the Divisional Round. The latter was not informed of the decision to draft Willis, but he has had a largely successful stint with the team and is due $27MM in 2022.

As a result, the Titans “fully expect” Tannehill to operate as the undisputed starter this season, where he will look to guide an offense no longer featuring A.J. Brown to another AFC-topping regular season. The team also publicly supported him in February, despite the underwhelming nature of his postseason. Given the $36MM cap charge he is scheduled to have in 2023 (along with no guaranteed money), however, Rapoport and Pelissero acknowledge that things could be very different for Tannehill one year from now.

The 34-year-old put up two touchdowns and a passer rating of 106.4 during yesterday’s loss to the Giants. His ability to improve on that performance throughout the season will be worth watching as his potential successor remains on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.

2022 Offseason In Review Series

This season will feature 12 new Week 1 starting quarterbacks, though the Jets’ decision is the result of an injury rather than a roster move. High-profile wide receivers also changed teams, igniting one of the biggest market shifts a single position has seen. The Offseason In Review series is now complete. Here are the PFR staff’s looks at how the 32 NFL teams assembled their 2022 rosters.

AFC East

AFC North

AFC South

AFC West

NFC East

NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/10/22

Today’s minor moves around the league, as teams prepare for the first Sunday slate of regular season games:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

The Cardinals’ moves come as a reaction to yesterday’s injury news. Baccellia’s roster spot was opened up in the short-term by the injury to Rondale Moore, but he won’t simply be a stop-gap. Arizona signed the 25-year-old to a two-year deal to remain on the main roster, per Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network (Twitter link). A UDFA out of Washington, Baccellia has yet to make a regular season NFL appearance.

Likewise, the fact that Ford will miss at least the first four weeks of the season makes the re-acquisition of Garcia a logical one. The former fourth-rounder has plenty of guard experience, including his three seasons spent in Arizona. It was only in 2021 that he logged any starts, but he could provide veteran depth behind Justin Pugh at least until Ford is able to return.

Addison, 35, was one of several veteran signings the Texans made this offseason to add depth to their front seven. He had a productive season with the Bills last season, notching seven sacks despite not starting any games. In his absence, Harris and Pierre-Louis will provide depth in the edge rush department on Sunday, and likely the short-term future as well.

Quick reminder that standard game day practice squad promotions are a recent development from the new CBA and COVID-19 seasons. Essentially, each team is able to promote two players from the practice squad to the active roster for game days. The players will automatically revert back to the practice squad after the game, not needing to clear waivers before rejoining the developmental roster. A player can only be promoted three times per season. If a team would like to promote a player for a fourth game, they’ll need to go through the normal method of creating space on the 53-man roster to promote them and have them clear waivers before placing them back on the practice squad. That is the difference between “Signed to 53-man roster” from the practice squad and “Promoted from practice squad.”

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/9/22

Today’s minor moves leading up to Week 1:

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Released with injury settlement: WR Greg Ward

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Waived with injury settlement: DT Elijah Ponder

Tennessee Titans

The Texans had recently re-signed Freeman after he failed to make the initial 53-man roster. Houston will move forward with rookie Dameon Pierce, Rex Burkhead, and Dare Ogunbowale at running back.

Ward has been with the Eagles on-and-off since signing with the team after going undrafted in 2017. His first two seasons consisted mostly of time on the practice squad. The former University of Houston quarterback then took a hiatus from the NFL to sign with the Alliance of American Football. When the AAF suspended operations, Ward re-joined the Eagles. He had a bit of a breakout year in 2020, catching 53 passes for 419 yards and six touchdowns, but took a bit of a backseat in Philadelphia’s offense last season.

Miller was called up as a response to Browns cornerback Greedy Williams being placed on injured reserve today. Miller will slot in behind Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome II, Martin Emerson, and A.J. Green as the secondary faces off against their former teammate Baker Mayfield in Week 1.

Titans, S Amani Hooker Agree To Extension

One of the Titans’ ascending defenders has landed a new deal just before the regular season kicks off. Safety Amani Hooker has agreed to terms on a three-year extension worth $33MM, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link). ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweets that the deal includes $19.5MM guaranteed, and a $10MM signing bonus. 

The team has confirmed the deal, which will keep Hooker on the books through 2026. A fourth-round pick of the Titans in 2019, he has taken on a larger role with each passing season over the course of his three years in the league. In 2021, he cemented his status as a full-time starter.

The 24-year-old was limited to 12 games last season due to a groin injury, but he still totaled 62 tackles, one interception and improved coverage statistics from the previous year. He and Kevin Byard have become an effective tandem on the backend of the Titans’ defense, leading to reports that Tennessee was prioritizing an extension for Hooker this offseason.

At $11MM per year on average, this deal will place Hooker in the top 15 at the safety position, one which has seen a number of massive deals this summer. Chief among those have been the record-breaking extensions given to Derwin James and Minkah Fitzpatrick, but other players such as Arizona’s Jalen Thompson have benefitted as well.

Given this new contract, and the pact Byard is playing on (which averages $14.1MM per season), the Titans will have one of the league’s more expensive safety tandems for at least the short-term future. If Hooker continues his growth over the length of the deal, however, the investment could prove worthwhile as the Titans look to remain AFC contenders.