Tennessee has settled on a replacement for Johnathan Cyprien in the wake of the starting safety's recent ACL injury.
The Titans have agreed to terms with former Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro, the team announced Saturday.
The No. 15 overall pick in the 2013 draft, Vaccaro started 67 games in New Orleans over the past five years. After biding his time on the surprisingly slow safety market for four months, Vaccaro turned in an impressive workout on Friday, per Rapoport. The former Texas Longhorns star got the nod over fellow free agents Eric Reid, Mike Mitchell and Lardarius Webb.
As it turned out, Reid missed his scheduled visit to Nashville due to multiple flight cancellations for bad weather. The Titans had positive talks with the former 49ers safety, Rapoport added, and will keep him at the top of their list if a need arises in the future.
Vaccaro, 27, began his NFL career in a rover role, taking on more responsibility than any rookie ever coached by former defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. Battling a litany of injuries, however, his production tailed off to the point where he began losing snaps to younger safeties such as Vonn Bell and Marcus Williams. His coverage ability, in particular, left a lot to be desired last season.
If a healthy Vaccaro proves to be a quick study in Mike Vrabel's defense, he has the potential to provide an upgrade on Cyprien. If he's slow to adapt, on the other hand, he would represent the lone weak spot in a suddenly stacked secondary that includes former Patriots cornerbacks Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan to go with All Pro safety Kevin Byard and promising 2017 first-round pick Adoree' Jackson.
Even with the loss of Cyprien, Tennessee's improved defense figures to climb the rankings after finishing 21st in Football Outsiders metrics last year.
