The Tennessee Titans made the difficult decision to part ways with longtime punter Brett Kern earlier this week.
According to Spotrac, the Titans are saving $2.2 million against the salary cap while carrying a $550,000 dead-cap hit for releasing Kern.
The 36-year-old had been with the organization since 2009 and gave the team a smooth transition from Craig Hentrich, who retired at the end of that season.
Ryan Stonehouse, signed as an undrafted free agent out of Colorado State in April, will take over punting duties, but the Titans are apparently trying to keep Kern in their back pocket just in case things don’t work out with the rookie.
At the time of his release, Kern owned the franchise records for games played (197), punt attempts (923), punt yards (42,333), punt average (45.9), and punts landing inside the 20-yard line (373).
For the first time since January 2020, the media was allowed back into the Titans locker room on Wednesday. Naturally, most wanted to hear from players and staff on Kern’s release.
We heard from veterans in Taylor Lewan and Kevin Byard, Jeffery Simmons, with whom Kern had a hilarious interaction in Week 17 last year, and both head coach Mike Vrabel and general manager Jon Robinson.
Here’s what they said.