Titans move Ryan Succop to IR, and promote LB Nigel Harris to 53-man roster

Last night it was reported that the Titans were going to sign former Browns kicker Greg Joseph off the Panthers practice squad, taking Ryan Santoso’s spot on the 53-man roster after he was released Tuesday morning.

The team confirmed Joseph’s addition this morning and also announced that Ryan Succop is heading back to injured reserve, ending his 2019 season. Taking Succop’s spot on the roster will be linebacker Nigel Harris who gets a promotion from the practice squad and could be a stand in for Daren Bates’ spot if the backup linebacker/special teams ace continues to miss time with a shoulder injury.

So there it is... Greg Joseph will officially be the Titans 5th kicker of 2019 and the team is back to being a one kicker roster.

To recap, we’ve now gone from Ryan Succop to Cairo Santos to Cody Parkey back to Ryan Succop to Ryan Succop/Ryan Santoso to Greg Joseph in just 15 weeks. All that after having exactly one kicker in the roster from 2014 to 2018.

Per his agent, Joseph is signing a 3-year contract with the team.

My guess is there is very little in the way of guarantees beyond 2019, but this gives Tennessee an option on the roster heading into 2020 if Succop continues to struggle to find his way.

At 33 years old, it’s possible that Succop — who never had the strongest leg to begin with — never gets that pop back that he’s been missing since his knee surgery this past offseason. With a cap hit of over $4M for 2020, it’s very possible that we’ve seen his last kick as a Titan.

Joseph, 25, went 17 of 20 on field goal attempts for the Browns last year with a long of 51. He brings a strong leg for kickoffs, forcing touchbacks on 68% of his kicks in 2018. Compared to the Titans 2019 rate of 49% touchbacks, that’s a pretty significant improvement.

Tennessee’s kicking woes this season are well-documented with their 8 of 18 field goal conversion rate. Hopefully the 5th kicker is the charm.