Titans missed opportunity to sign K Brandon McManus

The Tennessee Titans missed an opportunity to sign former Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McMcanus. The Broncos released McManus on Wednesday. McManus has now signed with Tennessee’s main competitor in the AFC South, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

McManus was the last remaining player from the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50-winning roster. McManus had kicked for the franchise since 2014. The 31-year-old McManus made 28-of-36 attempts in 2022 for a lackluster conversion rate of 77.8 percent. McManus has typically been outstanding prior to this past season. Perhaps the Titans believe McManus’ struggles are the sign of a declining kicker.

General manager Ran Carthon possesses $11.2 million in cap space, per Spotrac. The Titans should be in the market for a veteran kicker. They currently have second-year UDFA Caleb Shudak and rookie UDFA Trey Wolff on the roster. Whispers indicated Wolff got off to a shaky start at rookie minicamp. Tennessee had enough financial wiggle room to entice McManus. They’re deciding to stick with their two unproven kickers for now.

Shudak appeared in one regular-season contest in 2022, going 3-of-4 in a late-November loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Wolff appeared in all 13 contests as the Red Raiders’ placekicker last season. Wolff converted 21-of-25 attempts (84.0%) while nailing 41-of-42 of his extra points.

Tennessee’s struggles with kickers have been well documented. It took a while to find reliability until Randy Bullock momentarily steadied the ship. Bullock has since been released. The Titans are rolling the dice on a pair of inexperienced kickers.