Titans waive OLB Gimel President and S Jonathan Crawford; add DL Chris Nelson and OLB Jordan Williams

One thing we know heading into GM Jon Robinson’s fourth season as the man in charge of the Titans roster is that the roster never remains static for long. Robinson is constantly turning over the last few spots on the team, trying to find guys who might be able to flourish with a new opportunity.

He continued to do that today as the team waived outside linebacker Gimel President and recently signed safety Jonathan Crawford to make room for two new additions in defensive lineman Chris Nelson and outside linebacker Jordan Williams.

Williams has been bouncing around various rosters since going undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Tennessee. He spent his last couple years with the Giants, but only saw game action once, registering two tackles. During his college career, Williams started 21 games for the Vols and registered 65 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks spread over four years. He profiles as something closer to a traditional 4-3 defensive end rather than a 3-4 outside linebacker, checking in at 6’-4” tall and 262 pounds.

Nelson finished his college career at Texas last year, but went undrafted this spring. He originally signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent, but was released after minicamp. At 6’-1” and 298 pounds, Nelson played nose tackle for the Longhorns 3-3-5 defense last year, taking up the mantle from Poona Ford who went undrafted in 2018, but turned into a highly effective player for the Seahawks last season. He’s far more of a run stuffer than a pass rusher, but he performed his role well in Austin.

Nelson’s addition could have something to do with Terry McCormick’s report that defensive lineman Frank Herron was in a walking boot yesterday (and missed practice today). Both of these guys will face uphill battles to even sniff the 53-man roster, but you never know.