NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Titans reconstructed their secondary by signing safety Johnathan Cyprien and cornerback Logan Ryan while also addressing their special teams by acquiring Daren Bates and Brynden Trawick.
All four additions were announced Friday. The Titans also agreed to terms on a multi-year contract with tight end Phillip Supernaw, who has been with Tennessee the last two seasons.
The Titans went 9-7 last season despite ranking 30th in the NFL against the pass. They’re hoping Ryan and Cyprien can provide an upgrade in that regard.
Cyprien had 442 career tackles in four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, including a career-high 126 last season. Titans general manager Jon Robinson said in a statement that Cyprien is “an instinctive player, good blitzer, heavy hitter.”
“Tennessee is definitely on the way up,” Cyprien said. “We won nine games - and I’m definitely saying ’we’ from now on. We won nine games last year and finished one game short of making the playoffs. I think this is the year we’re going to make an even bigger step and continue to go forward.”
Ryan has spent the last four seasons with the New England Patriots and had 92 tackles and two interceptions in 2016. Ryan’s move to Tennessee reunites him with Robinson, who also came to the Titans after a stint in New England.
“Jon was a huge reason (why) I got to the NFL,” Ryan said. “He scouted me out of college. He’s extremely bright. He knows what he’s looking for. They expressed an interest in me and I expressed an interest in them.”
Robinson said in a statement that he was looking forward to Ryan “coming in and being a veteran guy and stepping up as a leader in the secondary.”
Trawick, a safety, led the Oakland Raiders with 14 special-teams tackles last season and had nine special-teams stops for the Baltimore Ravens in 2015. Robinson said “he will help us in the kicking game and will be a good role player for us on defense.”
Bates, a linebacker, has 31 special-teams tackles in 60 career NFL games. He had seven tackles on special teams and three more on defense for the Raiders last season.
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