[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyh7crnrcs3ypf player_id=none image=https://titanswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
Tennessee Titans punter Brett Kern is among the most beloved players on the team as he enters his 13th season in Nashville, but could his impressive run with the Titans come to an end as soon as this year?
CBS Sports’ Patrik Walker thinks it’s at least a possibility, as he listed Kern as the one Titans veteran who could be on the “chopping block” in 2021. Here’s why:
Punters get cut too, you know, including those who’ve been with their respective team for quite awhile. This might be the situation soon for Kern, who’s been with the Titans since joining them in 2009. He didn’t have his best season in 2020, with his numbers beginning to show decline and having also missed several games for the first time in his otherwise durable career. The Titans shouldn’t be hard-pressed to make a decision on a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro who’s racked up 43,623 punt yards in his stellar NFL career, but it also wouldn’t hurt to at least begin having the conversation about who’ll succeed him in the near future — especially considering the Titans can save millions toward their cap if they can answer that question sooner than later.
Since joining the Titans in 2009, Kern has become among the best players at his position in the NFL, and his ability to flip the field was even more vital when Tennessee’s offense struggled in years past.
In fact, former Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees even went as far as to call Kern the defense’s MVP when the offense wasn’t scoring much early on in 2019.
If the Titans do decide to move on from Kern in the near future, it’ll be because they desperately need the cap space, and not because of his production, age (he’s 35) or concerns over injury.
In the 11 full seasons he has spent with the Titans, Kern has missed just three games in total — all of which came last season — and that was a result of a botched snap.
Not to mention, his three-game absence only made us appreciate Kern more after the Trevor Daniel debacle against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10.
And, yes, his punt average was down in 2020, but he also only had 37 punts, which was less than half of his 2019 total, and he missed three games, further limiting his sample size. Regardless, even if we chalk that up as a down year, it’s hardly concrete evidence that Kern is declining.
Should the Titans shockingly part ways with Kern this year, the team would save a total of $5.6 million over the next two years, including $2.4 million immediately and $3.2 million in 2022, per Over the Cap.
However, the Titans don’t necessarily have a dire need for cap space right now with general manager Jon Robinson having made all the big moves he’s going to make this offseason. Of course, that could change in 2022, though.
Adding to that, there really isn’t anyone to replace Kern right now if that’s the approach Tennessee takes, which is made less likely by the fact that the Titans are clearly all-in.
The Titans currently have one other punter on their roster in 2021 UDFA James Smith, and 2020 UDFA kicker Tucker McCann punted in college, also, but is competing for the starting kicker role in training camp.
Either would be a major question mark if given Kerns’ role this season, if for no other reason than a lack of NFL experience. That’s a risk the Titans aren’t likely to take with the team clearly all-in on the 2021 campaign.
If the Titans do cut ties with Kern before his contract runs out at the end of the 2022 season, it’s far more likely it’ll come next offseason, and even then such a scenario is far from a lock.
At the end of the day, almost no player is immune to being a cap casualty, but we suspect Kern and the Titans would re-work his deal to help open up more cap space should Tennessee need, keeping the man we call “The GOAT” in Nashville for the foreseeable future, and hopefully for the rest of his career.