One Titans Cut Claimed Off Waivers

The Jacksonville Jaguars add safety Tyree Gillespie, who was acquired in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders fewer than two weeks before the NFL roster reduction.

George Walker IV/USA Today Sports

NASHVILLE – Of the 29 players the Tennessee Titans cut to get down to the NFL’s regular-season roster limit of 53, only one was claimed off waivers.

That allowed the team to fill its practice squad exclusively with players released by the team on Tuesday, when rosters were reduced.

Safety Tyree Gillespie went to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were one of the busiest teams when it came to the waiver wire. Gillespie was one of five players the Jaguars claimed.

The Titans added Gillespie on Aug. 17 via a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders. They gave up a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to get him (it is likely that pick returns to Tennessee because the player did not make the regular-season roster). He provided some veteran depth at a time when injuries left the defense short at that position.

A day earlier, another safety, Lonnie Johnson Jr., was claimed off waivers from Kansas City. A week after the deal for Gillespie, the Titans made another trade, this one for Ugo Amadi, who has experience as a nickel cornerback and at safety.

In two preseason games, Gillespie, fourth-round pick by the Raiders in 2021, made two tackles and broke up one pass.

Also claimed on Wednesday was former Tennessee defensive lineman Matt Dickerson. The Atlanta Falcons, led by former Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, added Dickerson, who was undrafted in 2018 but appeared in 18 games for Tennessee from 2018-20. He did not see action in the 2021 regular season.

The Kansas City Chiefs released Dickerson in their final roster cuts.