{"id":39271,"date":"2018-08-04T09:56:04","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T13:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=39271"},"modified":"2018-08-04T09:56:04","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T13:56:04","slug":"kenny-vaccaro-signs-with-tennessee-titans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/08\/04\/kenny-vaccaro-signs-with-tennessee-titans\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenny Vaccaro Signs with Tennessee Titans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In what has been a dismal year for the safety market, another big name players has finally come off the board. Safety <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/V\/VaccKe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kenny Vaccaro<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has signed with the Tennessee Titans. The 27-year-old played his first five seasons with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/saints\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Orleans Saints<\/a>. Terms of the contract have not yet been released. NFL Network&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>Ian Rapoport<\/strong> first had the news.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sources: The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Titans?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Titans<\/a> are filling their safety void by signing former <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Saints?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Saints<\/a> FA Kenny Vaccaro. A big addition in August following S Johnathan Cyprien being placed on Injured Reserve. Vaccaro was impressive in the workout, helping him be the choice over several others.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet\/status\/1025738675496386561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 4, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1><strong>Tennessee Titans Sign Kenny Vaccaro<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drafted 15th overall in the 2013 NFL Draft out of Texas, Vaccaro was brought to New Orleans to help revive a Saints defense that put forth the worst defense in league history in 2012. His supreme athleticism and ability to assist in pass-rushing situations was sure to give him a competitive advantage over veteran <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HarpRo21.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roman Harper<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rookie made an immediate impact, most notably in Week One versus the archrival <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/falcons\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Atlanta Falcons<\/a> when he deflected a touchdown pass to <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GonzTo00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Gonzalez<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> late in regulation. Vaccaro\u2019s 79 tackles, eight passes defended, one sack, one interception, and one forced fumble earned him a spot on Last Word On Sports\u2019<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/2014\/01\/25\/top-10-pro-bowl-snubs-who-got-left-out\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> inaugural Pro Bowl Snub list<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Helping guide the Saints to fourth place in total defense for the 2013 season, it appeared that the selection of the All-American defensive back was a home run, despite his year one being truncated due to injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The subsequent four campaigns, however, proved to be highly erratic. In 2014, his erroneous play led to a dip in his production as he was ranked the third-worst safety by popular analytics site Pro Football Focus. The sophomore slump was even the catalyst for rumors of him being benched, although they were denied by head coach <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/P\/PaytSe20.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sean Payton<\/a><\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Playing all 16 games in 2015, Vaccaro rebounded with career highs in tackles (104) and sacks (three) along with five pass deflections and a forced fumble. Though the Saints picked up his fifth-year option ahead of the 2016 season, it was headlined by a looming four-game suspension for violating the NFL\u2019s performance-enhancing drug policy. Dropping his appeal that December, Vaccaro was held out the remainder of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being the culprit in blown coverages and the subject of trade rumors early last season, Vaccaro\u2019s tenure in New Orleans was seemingly at a crossroads. The veteran even lost playing time to rookie standout <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=WillMa03,WillMa08,WillMa21&amp;search=Marcus+Williams&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Williams<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and second-year contributor <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BellVo00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vonn Bell<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. One of the few glaring positives from the former Longhorn was his personal best three interceptions. The acquisition of free agent <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/C\/ColeKu99.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kurt Coleman<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8212;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/2016\/01\/30\/top-10-pro-bowl-snubs-2015-season-edition\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">who ironically is another former LWOS Pro Bowl snub<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211;officially sealed Vaccaro\u2019s fate with the Saints. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even with the blatant physical gifts and occasional timely plays, Vaccaro never fully realized his first-round potential, leaving Saints fans disappointed. Injuries had a significant role, but the safety\u2019s overall productivity was underwhelming. With a change of scenery, the veteran will have the opportunity to remodel his career. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"yL_gG5EERu9_q2KFzp_2Qg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/848579678\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'yL_gG5EERu9_q2KFzp_2Qg',sig:'epWitoeyqWlN6F4gGu-efDJ5y4NbQl71jALoaQsaIJ0=',w:'594px',h:'422px',items:'848579678',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kenny Vaccaro had an up-and-down tenure with the New Orleans Saints. Still a talented and gifted player at age 27, he will have the opportunity to remodel his NFL career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1585,"featured_media":39276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,28],"tags":[61,3355,309,40,1608],"class_list":["post-39271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-saints","tag-football","tag-kenny-vaccaro","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-free-agency"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1585"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}