Tennessee is welcoming a new coach into its fold, but won't be doing the same at the kicker position.
The Titans have agreed to terms with Ryan Succop on a contract extension, the team announced on Tuesday. NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported the contract is for five years and worth $20 million, including $7.5 million in guarantees, according to a source informed of the terms of the contract.
Succop will earn $8.25 million over the first two years of the deal, Garafolo added.
In his fourth season with Tennessee, Succop ranked fifth in the league in total field goals made (35), ninth in points scored (136), 15th in extra points made and had just one field-goal attempt and one extra point attempt blocked in 2017. Among kickers who attempted 20 or more field goals, Succop finished T-16th in field goal percentage (83.3). The kicker also made 93.9 percent of extra point attempts.
The most impressive stat from Succop's 2017, and likely a major reason why Tennessee locked him up on a long-term deal, was the kicker's ability to convert from the area of separation: between 40 and 49 yards. Succop converted 16 of 20 such attempts, bested by San Francisco's Robbie Gould (17 of 18), Baltimore's Justin Tucker (11 of 12), Kansas City's Harrison Butker (10 of 12) and Los Angeles' Greg Zuerlein (a perfect 12 of 12).
Succop was heading toward unrestricted free agency, and at 31 years old, stood as arguably the best veteran kicker set to become available alongside Carolina's Graham Gano. A little more than a year after he posted the franchise's third-best field goal percentage (91.7, trailing the 92.3 mark set by Al Del Greco and the late Rob Bironas), he's secured his future in Nashville.
