Vic Beasley joins Titans

Vic Beasley’s career in Atlanta ended in pretty bitter fashion, with the team unusually announcing that they had no plans to negotiate a new contract with him. That plus Beasley’s extremely up-and-down 2017-2019 performances led more than one Falcons fan to wonder where he’d end up next, if anywhere.

Despite the fact that the Falcons couldn’t find any takers for him at the trade deadline last year, he figured to have a decent market, given that he leads the class of 2015 in sacks, led the NFL in sacks back in 2016, and finished off a strong second half for Atlanta in 2019. Before free agency has even officially opened, Beasley has reportedly found a new home with the Tennessee Titans.

This is an intriguing landing spot for him. The Titans have a pretty solid defense but only had one player (Harold Landry) get over five sacks last season, so they could use someone to get after opposing quarterbacks. Beasley gets a chance to prove he wasn’t properly utilized by the Falcons—something I think more than a few of us suspect is true—and is getting $9.5 million per Ian Rapoport at NFL Network to do so, with the chance to earn up to $12 million. This gives you a sense of the market the Falcons are stepping into.

The Falcons never intended to bring Beasley back, but they do need to replace his production and a lot more, and besides some rumored interest in Robert Quinn we’ve heard little to this point about their plans in that regard. We’ll likely have to hope the draft and mid-tier free agents can deliver the results they’ve lacked for years.

Good luck to Beasley, and may his career in Tennessee go well.