Months After Signing, Cornerback Kevin Johnson Retires

The 2015 first-round pick endured a number of notable injuries during his six-year NFL career.

Kevin Johnson’s time with the Tennessee Titans did not last long.

It ended Friday along with his career.

The Titans placed the 28-year-old cornerback on the reserve-retired list. The move comes fewer than three months after he signed with them as a free agent.

Also Friday, Tennessee signed tackle Adam Coon and waived (injured) tackle Anthony McKinney, an undrafted free agent in 2020 who opted out of last season due to COVID-19 concerns. Coon was an accomplished college wrestler at Michigan from 2015-18 who last played football as a high school senior in 2012.

Johnson was a first-round pick (16th overall) by the Houston Texans in 2015 and spent four seasons with that franchise, including 2017 when Titans coach Mike Vrabel was the defensive coordinator. Since, he spent one year with Buffalo and one with Cleveland.

“There’s familiarity there with the scheme, the staff,” he said when he signed. “It’s a great city. I’m very familiar with the division as well, playing in Houston for four years.

“… Basically just trying to do it all, trying to be an impact player, that’s my style.”

Injuries limited Johnson to 64 games played and 25 starts during his career. Among his health issues were three concussions in less than a year beginning in November 2017 and foot fractures in each of his first two campaigns. Last year with the Browns, a lacerated kidney in training camp caused him to miss the start of the regular season.

For his career, he recorded 191 tackles with one interception and 22 passes defensed.

Johnson was one of two veteran cornerbacks the Titans signed this offseason (Janoris Jenkins was the other). They also selected two cornerbacks in the NFL draft, Caleb Farley (first round) and Elijah Molden (third round) and re-signed Breon Borders, who started five games in 2020.