Ryan Succop
2020 salary: $4.1 million
2020 dead cap: $2.1 million
2020 savings from cutting Succop: $2 million
After beginning the 2019 season on Injured Reserve, kicker Ryan Succop came back in Week 9 and just wasn’t the same reliable kicker we’ve seen in years past.
Prior to his return, the Titans tried Cairo Santos, who turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Cody Parkey was the only kicker to have some semblance of success (he made all three of his field goal attempts), however he was later let go upon Succop’s return.
In six games, Succop missed five field goals and one extra point, and to make matters worse he wasn’t able to get touchbacks on kickoffs, forcing the Titans to sign a “kickoff specialist” in Ryan Santoso.
Once it was abundantly clear that the two-kicker experiment had failed and that Succop wasn’t rounding into form, the Titans placed him back on IR, ending his season.
Since then, Tennessee signed kicker Greg Joseph to a three-year, $1.98 million contract and he could be the team’s kicker in 2020. Joseph only attempted one field goal after joining Tennessee, so the jury is still very much out on him.
The Titans can’t rely on Succop for another season because it could lead to the disastrous revolving door at the position that culminated in Tennessee being dead last in the NFL in field goals (8-for-18, 44.4%).