Another Free Agent Addition Opts to Retire

Defensive tackle Abry Jones is the second player to sign with the Tennessee Titans this offseason only to end his NFL career weeks later.

Douglas DeFelice/USA Today Sports

For the second time this offseason, a free agent addition has retired weeks after he signed with the Tennessee Titans.

The Titans placed defensive tackle Abry Jones on the Reserve/Retired list Saturday, the first day quarterbacks, injured players and rookies were eligible to report for the start of training camp.

Jones joined the Titans in early June when he agreed to a one-year, $1.075 million contract. The 29-year-old (he will be 30 before the season opener) is a veteran of 105 NFL games, including 52 as a starter, all with the Jacksonville Jaguars. At 6-foot-4, 318 pounds, he was expected to replace at least some of what Tennessee lost with the free-agent departure of long-time nose tackle DaQuan Jones.

“He’s been in the battles,” defensive line coach Terrell Williams said during the Titans’ mandatory minicamp in June. “… Based on his history, he has at least played in this division and in some meaningful NFL games. So, I’m looking forward to watching him compete.”

Jones, instead, saw fit to change his mind a little more than six weeks after his arrival.

Coincidentally, Jones signed with Tennessee a day before cornerback Kevin Johnson announced his retirement. A first-round pick by Houston in 2015, Johnson signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Titans early in free agency but elected to retire fewer than three months later.

Johnson had an extensive injury history that caused him to miss one-third of the regular-season games during his six-year career.

Jones, on the other hand, missed just four games over a six-year period from 2014-19 before an ankle injury limited him to just five games played in 2020. He played his last game on Oct. 11, 2020, was placed on injured reserve 11 days later and remained there for the remainder of the season.

Without Jones, 2020 fifth-round draft pick Larrell Murchison, veteran free agent Trevon Coley and Teair Tart, an undrafted rookie last season who ultimately played seven games as a rookie, will be the leading candidates to fill the opening in the middle of the defensive line.