The Tennessee Titans have had a fairly anonymous start to free agency thus far. General manager Mike Borgonzi has signed offensive tackle Dan Moore to a four-year contract worth $82 million to be the team's new left tackle, with JC Latham moving to the right side. Veteran linebacker Cody Barton also joined via a three-year deal.
Borgonzi also re-signed several of his own in-house players. Sebastian Joseph-Day re-upped with the Titans. Borgonzi also opted to exercise the contracts on exclusive rights free agents Darrell Baker Jr. and Andrew Rupcich, among others. One name notably missing from that list was restricted free-agent punter Ryan Stonehouse, and we now know why.
The Titans are making the stunning decision to move on from Stonehouse, his agent John Perla told Titan Sized.
Titans to move on from record-breaking punter Ryan Stonehouse
Borgonzi possessed the opportunity to place a tender on Stonehouse to lock him in through the 2025 campaign at a reasonable $3.2 million. They've denied that option, and Stonehouse will become an unrestricted free agent. He won't be re-signing with the Titans.
An undrafted free agent in 2022, Stonehouse beat-out Titans long-term punter Brett Kern for the job. Stonehouse quickly repaid the Titans for making that bold decision by leading the entire league in punting yards (4,779). The former Colorado State standout averaged a record-breaking 53.1 yards per punt, shattering Sammy Baugh's record that had stood since 1940. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team as a result.
Stonehouse's sophomore 2023 campaign was unfortunately cut short by a serious season-ending leg injury. Stonehouse tore his ACL, MCL, and suffered additional ailments during a blocked punt against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 13. Despite that, he finished his sophomore season with an identical 53.1 average, leading the league in yards per punt for the second consecutive year.
The 2024 season welcomed more challenges. After a lengthy road to recovery, Stonehouse suffered blocked punts in consecutive games to begin the campaign. His long wind-up, in addition to recurring coverage issues under first-year special teams coordinator Colt Anderson, were at the forefront of their struggles. Stonehouse was named a Pro Bowl alternate, but Tennessee's special teams were a league-worst unit, and Anderson was fired after one season in charge.
Titans head coach Brian Callahan hired the legendary John "Bones" Fassel to be the new special teams coordinator. A decorated coach, Fassel may have had input on the stunning decision to let Stonehouse go. Last year, he coached Bryan Anger with the Dallas Cowboys, who is currently a free agent.