Ropati Pitoitua

NFL Workout Updates: 11/22/16

Tuesday is workout day in the NFL, and today was no different. Due to the sheer volume of today’s auditions, we’ll split up the reports by conference:

NFC

AFC

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Titans Cut Ropati Pitoitua, 11 Others

The Titans have made 12 roster moves today, moving their roster to 77 men, the club announced. Tennessee has until 3pm CT Tuesday to get to 75 players.

The Titans have made the following transactions:

Cut:

Waived/Injured:

Pitoitua, 31, seemed liked one of the likeliest cuts in the entire NFL. Pitoitua only played 31 defensive snaps last season, but was scheduled to count more than $3.8MM on the Titans’ salary cap. By releasing him, Tennessee will save $3.078MM.

Gallik, meanwhile, will revert to the Titans’ injured reserve list if he clears waivers.

Titans, Ropati Pitoitua Agree To Deal

9:00pm: It’s a three-year, $9.6MM deal including a $2.175MM bonus, tweets Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun. His base salaries are as follows (link): $975K in 2014, $2.125MM in ’15, and $2.95MM in ’16 with a $600K roster bonus due in March 2015. The deal marks a nice bump in pay for Pitoitua who earned $1.1MM last season and has made ~$3MM over the course of his career.

5:46pm: The Titans have agreed to terms with defensive end Ropati Pitoitua, sources tell Jim Wyatt of The Tennesseean (via Twitter). Pitoitua, who was one of the club’s priorities after a strong year in 2013, gets a three-year deal from the Titans (link).

The 6’8″, 290 pound Samoan had a career high four sacks, four passes defended, and 34 tackles this season across 16 games (13 starts). After rotating between the Jets’ injured reserve and practice squad between 2008 and 2011, Pitoitua had his breakthrough season with the Chiefs in 2012 when he got to start ten games at right defensive end. He’ll be a part of the Titans’ transition to a hybrid defense under new defensive coordinator Ray Horton.

Titans Rumors: Verner, Pollard, Wimbley

Earlier today, we heard from Titans general manager Ruston Webster that the team is taking its time when it comes to making a decision on Chris Johnson‘s contract, and that the front office intends to continue talking to Alterraun Verner‘s agent about a new deal. Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean has an update on the Verner front, along with a few other Titans-related items, so let’s see what he’s got for us….

  • The Titans are meeting with Verner’s agent at the combine and the hope is that the two sides can work out a new deal in the near future, according to Wyatt (via Twitter). Wyatt adds that the club is unlikely to use the franchise tag on its free agent cornerback.
  • Bernard Pollard‘s agent and the Titans have engaged in discussions about a new contract for the free agent safety, and the team would like to bring him back, tweets Wyatt.
  • Kamerion Wimbley has a $7.8MM cap number for 2014 and Wyatt can’t see him returning to the Titans at that price. However, the club believes Wimbley would be a good fit in its changing defense, and there’s still plenty of time to talk about a restructure, says Wyatt (Twitter links).
  • Tennessee is also interested in re-signing free agent defensive lineman Ropati Pitoitua and will likely speak to his agent at the combine, tweets Wyatt.