Tag: Cameron Wake

Cameron Wake’s agent refutes report that he’s retiring

Cameron Wake’s agent says he’s not retiring, despite an earlier report.

After a report surfaced that former Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake was retiring, his agent came out and stated it was not true.

Paul Sheehy of ProStar Sports refuted the report and said that his client has no intentions of retiring, and instead we’ll get to see the seemingly ageless Wake “harass QBs some more” in 2020.

The 38-year-old was signed to a three-year, $23 million contract in 2019 by the Titans. He played in nine games and totaled 2.5 sacks before succumbing to an injury and being placed on Injured Reserve. He was one of four cuts made by the Titans last week.

Prior to joining the Titans last season, Wake played for the Dolphins for 10 seasons. He totaled double-digit sacks in five of them, while also being voted to the Pro Bowl five times and notching one First-Team All-Pro selection.

During his career, Wake has compiled an impressive 100.5 sacks, which is even more eye-opening when you consider he started his NFL tenure at the age of 27. He played in the CFL before joining Miami in 2009.

Whenever he does decide to hang up his cleats, Wake should be a no-doubt Hall of Famer. But for now, opposing quarterbacks still have to fear him on Sundays.

Grades for each of Tennessee Titans’ 4 recent cuts

What grades does Jon Robinson get for the cuts he’s made so far?

The Tennessee Titans made the decision to cut four players in the last few days in tight end Delanie Walker, kicker Ryan Succop, outside linebacker Cameron Wake and running back Dion Lewis.

With those moves, the Titans now have about $18 million extra to spend this offseason, on top of the roughly $50 million the team started out with. It’s possible more cuts are made in the coming days, but those were undoubtedly some of the bigger ones the Titans had to make decisions on.

So, how well did general manager Jon Robinson do with those moves? Let’s take a look by slapping a grade on each, with “A” being the best and “F” being the worst.

Cutting Dion Lewis: A

Money saved: $4 million

This was by far the easiest decision the Titans had to make.

Lewis simply wasn’t cutting it as the team’s No. 2 back behind Derrick Henry, as evidenced by his 3.5 yards per carry and 6.7 yards per reception over the course of two years with the team.

Now, the Titans can take that money and spend it in free agency, while also adding a younger, cheaper and hopefully more productive back through the 2020 NFL Draft.

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Titans release former Dolphins star Cameron Wake

Titans release former Dolphins star Cameron Wake

When the Miami Dolphins bid farewell to star pass rusher Cameron Wake in 2019, it served as the first heavy blow of what would be a trying 12 months. Several of the team’s beloved players were ushered out the door, but Wake was among the first to go — and he was definitely the most loved.

Wake signed a short-term contract with the Tennessee Titans, hoping to eclipse 100 career sacks and make some noise in the postseason for the first time in his career. Wake and the Titans accomplished both; but the latter came without Wake in the picture. After logging 2.5 sacks in a Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns (that put Wake over 100 for his career), Wake would not log another sack the rest of the way and ended up playing in only 9 games for the Titans, missing more than half of the team’s total games.

Seeing a deep playoff run for Wake’s team materialize while the pass rusher sat on injured reserve isn’t exactly what anyone had in mind. But apparently the Titans feel comfortable in moving on without Wake — they announced yesterday that they are cutting the former Dolphins star.

To some degree, the idea of bringing back Wake on a one-year contract is appealing — but do the Dolphins agree? Their willingness to let Wake walk out this past offseason is concerning to any fans who hope to see him return. Is Wake even planning on playing next season? These are unanswered questions and make forecasting a possible reunion impossible to predict. This isn’t uncharted waters for the Dolphins, either — this team engaged in a similar dance with Jason Taylor in the twilight of his career as well. But Wake can only follow in Taylor’s footsteps if he ends up inking a deal to play once more in South Florida.

From a pure sentimental standpoint, nothing sounds better.

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Former Tennessee Titans OLB Cameron Wake doesn’t plan to retire

Former Titans OLB Cameron Wake plans to play in 2020.

The Tennessee Titans released outside linebacker Cameron Wake on Thursday, but that doesn’t mean the 38-year-old plans on retiring.

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garofalo, Wake’s agent told him that the veteran wants to return for his 12th NFL season in 2020.

Wake played in just nine games for the Titans in 2019 and was a situational pass-rusher, as he never played more than 36 snaps in any contest. After battling injuries during the season, Wake was placed on season-ending IR in November.

Obviously, Wake’s age and 2019 injury issues, along with the fact that he totaled just 2.5 sacks in Week 1 against the Browns and none after, will be working against his hopes of getting another shot with a different team.

However, despite his sack totals falling off, Wake did still generate a pressure rate above 10 percent, the only Titans pass-rusher to do so.

That fact alone might make him an intriguing pickup for a team in need of a veteran pass-rusher who can only play limited snaps, but clearly that wasn’t enough for the Titans to hang on to him.

Tennessee Titans release OLB Cameron Wake

The Titans have released Cameron Wake.

The Tennessee Titans have released outside linebacker Cameron Wake, according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.

Wake signed a three-year, $23 million contract with Tennessee last March. The Titans will save about $5.5 million in 2020 by releasing him.

Wake played in just nine games in his first season with the Titans and totaled just 2.5 sacks, all of which came in the Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Wake was placed on Injured Reserve in November, ending his season early. With doubts about his future viability at the age of 38, the writing was on the wall that he could be cut this offseason.

This move comes on the heels of the team also releasing running back Dion Lewis. With the moves to cut both Wake and Lewis, the Titans will save about $9.5 million.

In other news, Wyatt is also reporting that the Titans have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with defensive back Chris Milton, who the team released on Wednesday.

5 players Tennessee Titans can cut to create more cap space

These five Titans could be on the chopping block in 2020.

If the Tennessee Titans want to clear up more cap space for what should be a busy 2020 offseason, cutting players is one way to do it.

After signing tight end Anthony Firkser and wide receiver Cameron Batson, the Titans have 20 of their own free agents remaining, but also have to look to outside the organization to bring in help via free agency.

If general manager Jon Robinson wants more wiggle room than the roughly $50 million he has to spend now, he could look to cut some or all of the following players.

All contract figures are courtesy of Over the Cap.

Dion Lewis | RB

2020 savings: $4 million

Since the Titans signed him to a four-year, $19.8 million deal in 2018, Lewis has been nothing short of a disappointment. With Derrick Henry running wild in 2019, Lewis failed to be effective in his limited reps.

The Titans could part ways with the veteran and bring in a younger, cheaper option that can be an asset on third downs. That will most likely happen through the 2020 NFL Draft.

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4 takeaways from Titans’ 28-12 win over Ravens

Here are five takeaways from the contest as the Titans prepare for their first AFC Championship appearance since 2002.

You almost get a sense that the Titans like being the underdogs at this point.

Tennessee has been counted out since the beginning of the postseason, including before they recorded a 20-13 road win over the New England Patriots.

Even after a dominant showing, no one saw the Titans embarrassing the Ravens in M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday the way they did on the 28-12 victory over what many considered to be the best team in the NFL.

Here are five takeaways from the contest as the Titans prepare for their first AFC Championship appearance since 2002.

1. The Titans’ defense managed to shut down the NFL’s best offense without key players.

Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

No Cameron Wake. No Malcolm Butler. No Jayon Brown.

Those are big losses for the Titans that are further magnified in tough postseason matchups.

But Mike Vrabel and defensive coordinator Dean Pees concocted the perfect game plan against a Baltimore team that came into the game with a 14-2 overall record and an average of 33.2 points per game.

The Titans held them to 12, and capitalized on three takeaways.

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2020 compensatory pick projections feature bad news for the Dolphins

The latest forecasts for 2020 compensatory picks offers some bad news for the Dolphins.

When the Miami Dolphins entered free agency last offseason, the team seemed content to hold their water through the first phase of free agency — intent on cashing in via the departures of several big name players in the form of compensatory picks. It is sound strategy for a team entering a rebuild, every picks counts for something and can be used in trade scenarios or potentially be cashed in for a big steal in the draft.

And so the Dolphins were content to let Ja’Wuan James and Cameron Wake leave in free agency. After all, James had been a middling player with some injury issues in Miami and Cameron Wake, for as good as he’s been, inevitably wasn’t going to be a part of the long-term future here in South Florida.

So off they went. And when the duo left to sign with Denver and Tennessee, respectively, the Dolphins anticipated cashing in some big hits in the compensatory formula. James was made the highest paid right tackle in football and Wake signed a 3-year, $23M deal to play in Tennessee.

Given the Dolphins’ lack of spending, Miami was initially projected to recoup a 2020 3rd-round pick for James and a 2020 5th-round pick for Wake.

Now that the season is over, the latest (and final) compensatory pick projections are out courtesy of Nick Korte of OverTheCap.com. And it’s not good news for Miami.

The compensatory pick for Ja’Wuan James has been downgraded from a 3rd-round pick to a 4th-round pick due to James’ inability to stay healthy this year. James played in just 3 games this season (continuing his trend of missing at least half the season on every odd year he’s been in the NFL).

The compensatory pick for Wake? It could be gone all together. Wake logged just 198 snaps over 9 games for the Titans — grossly impacting his forecasted loss to Miami in the NFL’s compensatory pick formula. If the NFL values his loss as a 6th round value, Miami will get nothing for losing Wake. But, as Korte writes, the NFL values Wake’s lost contract as a 5th round value, Miami will still get the 5th-round pick in the compensatory phase of the round.

For now, all we can do is wait.

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How are former Dolphins defenders faring elsewhere in 2019?

How are former Miami Dolphins defenders faring elsewhere in 2019?

The Miami Dolphins shipped out numerous players over the course of the past year, so much so that the roster that Miami entered the 2019 season with was two-thirds new players. That turnover, in many instances, was necessary in order for a successful rebuild, even if that meant a downgrade for 2019 on the field.

But how are these former Dolphins defenders faring in life with a new team in 2019? Many are finding more team success, but are those wins coming at the hands of their own performances?

DE Cameron Wake, Tennessee Titans

Wake exploded in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns for 2.5 sacks, putting him over the edge of 100 career sacks in the NFL. In the time since, Wake hasn’t gotten back to the quarterback. Currently on injured reserve with a knee injury, Wake’s impact on the Titans was diminished by youthful pass rushers like Harold Landry. Wake undoubtedly provides a valuable leadership role in the Titans locker room and his mentorship has helped Landry double his rookie sack total with three games left to play.

DE Robert Quinn, Dallas Cowboys

The Dolphins paid down the 2019 salary of Robert Quinn to make him a tradable asset this spring. Miami ate a seven figure roster bonus after the first few days of the start of the league calendar in order to ship him to Dallas for a late round draft pick, and Quinn has obliged by rolling up 9.5 sacks thus far on the season.

It isn’t all good news for the Cowboys, as the team is currently mired in a meltdown that will likely see head coach Jason Garrett lose his job at the end of the year. Quinn has thrived across from star pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence and looks to be more explosive than he was in his one year in Miami. At 29-years old, Quinn may have captured his second wind — but his cost was going to be hard to justify for the Dolphins this season.

LB Kiko Alonso, New Orleans Saints

The Dolphins swapped Alonso for Vince Biegel at the beginning of the season and it could be argued that the Dolphins won out on this deal as the first year comes to a close. Alonso has played sparingly in New Orleans, starting three games this season and logging 31 total tackles through Week 14.

Biegel? He’s been a steady presence for the Dolphins on the edge against both the run and the pass, leading the team in QB hits with 11.

Alonso missed Week 14 with a thigh injury but is expected to be ready to contribute as the Saints make a postseason push into January.

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Titans make roster moves, place LB Cameron Wake on Injured Reserve

The Tennessee Titans did a good deal of shuffling within the roster ahead of the team’s Sunday matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Tennessee Titans did a good deal of shuffling within the roster ahead of the team’s Sunday matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.

The team placed linebacker Cameron Wake and defensive back Chris Milton to Injured Reserve.

Wake was injured on Sunday’s 42-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, while Milton will also remained sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Also on Tuesday, the Titans promoted cornerback Kareem Orr and outside linebacker Derick Roberson from the practice squad to the team’s 53-man roster.

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Both players were on the active roster for a short time period this year, but neither has seen action in a game.

Tennessee also signed defensive lineman Joey Ivie and defensive back Kenneth Durden to the practice squad on Tuesday.

The Titans will face the Colts at noon CT on Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium.