Months After Titans Traded Him, Correa Released

The veteran outside linebacker's best option for a new team looks to be Atlanta, where former coordinator Dean Pees is now in charge of the defense.

At least Kamalei Correa’s safety net is in place.

The Jacksonville Jaguars released the former Tennessee Titans linebacker Thursday, which is a first him and makes him a free agent in search of a job.

Changing teams, however, is nothing new for Correa, and with Dean Pees recently having ended his retirement there is clear-cut favorite to become Correa’s fourth NFL franchise. That, of course, is the Atlanta Falcons, the team for which Pees is the defensive coordinator under former Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.

In two of his previous three stops, Correa has been part of a defense led by Pees. First, it was with Baltimore, which selected him in the second round of the 2016 draft. Then it was Tennessee, which acquired him in a trade just prior to the start of the 2018 regular season, Pees’ first as defensive coordinator with the Titans.

“He gave me a chance in Baltimore,” Correa said during the 2020 training camp. “He took a chance on me. He drafted me high and for him to come here to Tennessee, it was just like going back home to your friend's house and you're just catching up and it really was like we never skipped a beat when he came here. We kept the train moving and I thank him for what he did for my career.”

Maybe Pees can do a little bit more for him.

Correa’s best season was 2019 – Pees’ last with Tennessee – when he set career-highs with 37 tackles, five sacks and seven quarterback pressures and emerged as an important contributor to the defense down the stretch and during the postseason.

That prompted franchise officials to re-sign him during the offseason. However, when free agent Jadeveon Clowney signed just before the start of the season, Correa’s role was greatly reduced and he requested a trade, which happened a day later.

With the Jaguars, he was credited with seven tackles and one pass defensed in six games before an injury sidelined him for three weeks before he left the team in mid-December, a move that makes his release anything but a surprise.

The good news is Correa knows at least one place he can look as he searches for another opportunity.