Mere months after signing Vic Beasley to a one-year, $9.5 million contract , it appears that the Tennessee Titans are done with the experiment. Rumors of issues between the organization and former Atlanta Falcons top-10 pick before he even played a game in Tennessee have now become reality.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tennessee has opted to move on from the former Pro Bowl pass rusher.
Beasley, 28, missed a large portion of training camp for reasons that are not yet known to the public. In five games this season, the Clemson product has recorded zero quarterback hits and zero sacks. Talk about being a non-factor.
It was somewhat of a surprise that Beasley landed such a lucrative short-term contract after rumors persisted of a rift between the Falcons and him during the latter part of his career with the organization.
The former Pro Bowler led the NFL with 15.5 sacks back in 2016. Since then, it’s been a mixed bag. He was able to record eight sacks a season ago after combining for 10 over the previous two years. That type of inconsistency has led to rumors that he just isn’t the same player as we saw years ago.
Titans also released former Pro Bowl CB Johnathan Joseph
Also signed this past offseason, this 15-year veteran had actually played a whole heck of a lot for the Tennessee Titans before his release.
That included 75% or more of the Titans’ defensive snaps in five of seven games thus far. A two-time Pro Bowler during his time with the Houston Texans, Joseph, 36, has recorded 28 tackles, four passes defended and one interception this season.
Releasing both Beasley and Joseph doesn’t come cheaply. The two had a combined dead cap hit of $11.4 million heading into the season. The Titans will have to eat about half of that.
Even then, this is a clear indication that Titans general manager Jon Robinson and head coach Mike Vrabel are not happy about Tennessee's performance on defense.
Losers of two consecutive games heading into Week 9’s contest with the Chicago Bears, the Tennessee Titans are yielding an average of 26.3 points per outing. They have also given up a whopping 17 passing touchdowns while recording a mere seven sacks in as many games.
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