Today’s taxi squad moves:
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Indianapolis Colts
Green Bay Packers
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Rams
New York Giants
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
It didn’t take long for Sam Ficken to find a new home. Just a day after getting cut by the Jets, the kicker has been claimed by the Titans, the team announced Sunday.
Tennessee cut fellow kicker Blake Haubeil in a corresponding roster move, and also announced they’ve placed tight end Briley Moore on injured reserve. A Penn State product, Ficken went undrafted in 2015. He didn’t even sign his first NFL contract until 2016, and didn’t make a regular season roster until December of 2017 with the Rams. He kicked in a few games with Los Angeles between 2017-18, both times as a fill-in for an injured Greg Zuerlein.
After quick stints with the Seahawks and Packers, Ficken eventually landed with the Jets in September of 2019, where he found his first real home. He’s been New York’s kicker for most of the last two seasons, with mixed results. Injuries limited him to only nine games last year, in which he made 13 of 15 field goals and 12 of 15 extra points.
In 2019 he was shakier, making only 19 of 27 field goal attempts across 15 games. He’ll now battle it out with Tucker McCann to be the Titans’ next permanent kicker after they elected not to re-sign Stephen Gostkowski this offseason.
Haubeil is an undrafted rookie from Ohio State. Moore is an undrafted rookie from Kansas State who suffered a knee injury.
If you’re a big fan of undrafted free agents, we’ve got TEN more for you. The Titans announced today that they’ve added 10 rookies to their roster:
Who were the big earners? Carter earned $50K guaranteed, which includes $37.5K of his base salary (via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle on Twitter). Jones got $45K in guaranteed money, which includes $35K in base salary and a $10K signing bonus (via Wilson), while Forristall received $23K in guaranteed money (via Wilson).
Per usual with these kind of signings, the special teams additions are especially interesting. It doesn’t seem like veteran kicker Stephen Gostkowski will be back, meaning Haubeil will likely be competing with 2020 undrafted free agent Tucker McCann for the kicking gig. It’d be more difficult for Smith to make the roster considering the presence of Pro Bowler Brett Kern, but the team could be starting to prepare for the veteran punter’s inevitable retirement.