A day after announcing edge rusher Lorenzo Carter had chosen to retire, the Titans on Wednesday night reportedly added some potential pass-rush help.
The team signed defensive lineman Jihad Ward, a nine-year veteran with 19 career sacks, according to NFL reporter Jordan Schultz.
The 6-5, 285-pound Ward posted just one sack and one tackle for loss in 17 games — including two starts — with Minnesota last season.
But he recorded a career-high 31 pressures in 2024, per Pro Football Focus, which listed him as an interior defensive lineman. Ward’s 14 quarterback hits last season also represented a career high.
A second-round pick of the Raiders in 2016, Ward has played for six teams over his nine seasons, making 119 appearances and 37 starts.
The former Illinois standout produced a career-high five sacks for the New York Giants in 2023, along with five tackles for loss and nine quarterback hits.
Depending on where the Titans choose to position Ward, he could at least add experienced depth at one of the team’s weakest positions.
Neither of the Titans’ top edge rushers, Arden Key and Dre’Mont Jones, has ever produced as many as seven sacks in a single season.
The presumed third edge rusher is rookie Femi Oladejo, a second-round pick who only began playing the position in 2024, his final season at UCLA.
Other edge rushers on the roster include 2024 seventh-round pick Jaylen Harrell, as well as Ali Gaye, Titus Leo and rookie Desmond Evans.
The Titans recorded just 32 sacks last season, tied for 29th.
Nine of those sacks came courtesy of edge rusher Harold Landry, who’s now in New England playing for former Titans coach Mike Vrabel.
Carter, a nine-year veteran with 21.5 career sacks, had signed with the Titans in March. But Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi announced Tuesday that Carter — one day earlier — had informed him of his plans to retire.