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Titans Take Another Pass at Adding to Pass Rush

Vic Beasley, who led the NFL in sacks in 2016, reportedly agrees to terms on a one-year contract

David Boclair

For some, the Tennessee Titans’ pursuit of an elite pass rusher might be getting old.

If nothing else, their latest attempt is significantly younger than the last.

Vic Beasley Jr., a 27-year-old who has spent the past five seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, agreed to contract terms with the Titans on Tuesday, the second day that free agents are allowed to negotiate with any team. The eighth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft is Tennessee’s first significant addition from another team for 2020.

It reportedly is a one-year deal for $9.5 million with another $2.5 million possible in bonuses.

Free agents cannot sign with a new team until Wednesday afternoon.

Beasley effectively replaces Cameron Wake, a free agent addition in 2019 who was released last week. Wake 38, contributed just two and a half sacks in nine games during his lone season with the Titans.

Beasley (6-3, 246) has 37.5 sacks in 78 career contests. He led the NFL with 15.5 in 2016 when the Falcons went 11-5 and ultimately reached the Super Bowl. He earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro recognition that year.

In three seasons since, he has 18 total and no more than eight in a year.

Over the last decade the Titans have just three players record 10 sacks or more in a season, none more than once. The last to do so was Brian Orakpo with 10.5 in 2016.

Harold Landry had a team-high nine in 2019, which tied him for 10 in the NFL.

Tennessee tied for 13 as a team with 43 sacks in 2019. That was up slightly from the previous season (39, tied for 16) and tied for the most in the last decade. The last time the Titans had more than 43 in a season was 2008, when they notched 44 en route to the league’s best regular season record (13-3).

Beasley was an All-American at Clemson, where he ranks as the school’s all-time sacks leader with 33. 

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David Boclair
DAVID BOCLAIR

David Boclair has covered the Tennessee Titans for multiple news outlets since 1998. He is award-winning journalist who has covered a wide range of topics in Middle Tennessee as well as Dallas-Fort Worth, where he worked for three different newspapers from 1987-96. As a student journalist at Southern Methodist University he covered the NCAA's decision to impose the so-called death penalty on the school's football program.

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