Former Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop now faces free agency

Former Kansas City Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop has been released by the Tennessee Titans after six years with the franchise.

In the midst of making major moves to keep their biggest players, the Tennessee Titans are also making cuts to create the requisite room under the salary cap. The latest players to be released come in the form of longtime veterans kicker Ryan Succop and tight end Delanie Walker.

Succop has been the Titans kicker for the last six seasons. His release comes only two years after the Titans gave Succop a five-year contract extension worth $20 million. That extension was given at the end of a three-year deal first given to Succop by the Titans in free agency after he was cut loose by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Unfortunately for Succop, he struggled to stay healthy last season after undergoing knee surgery. The Titans ultimately placed him on injured reserve but even when healthy, he only converted one of six field goal attempts on the year. He was replaced by Cairo Santos, who interestingly enough, was also the kicker who replaced him in Kansas City.

If you remove his injury-plagued year in 2019, Succop made 88.6 percent of his field goal attempts in Tennessee. That’s a strong run that should lead Succop to further work, if he so desires, at the NFL level. Then again, any team will be concerned about the long-term health of his knee, so it will be on Succop to prove he’s ready to kick again without fear.

Succop was originally a seventh round selection of the Chiefs under Scott Pioli back in the 2009 NFL Draft. He served as the Chiefs kicker for five seasons.