It seemed hard to fathom, but Mike Edwards‘ tenure in Tennessee was even shorter than his stint in Buffalo. A week after signing with the Titans following his release from the Bills, Edwards has now been released a second time in just eight days, according to Titans senior writer/editor Jim Wyatt.
In Buffalo to start the year, the former Buccaneers and Chiefs defender was stuck behind Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin and second-round rookie Cole Bishop in the rotation at safety. The Bills attempted to make him available for the trade market shortly before the deadline but failed to offload the 28-year-old, so they decided to release him.
Edwards signed a one-year, $2.8M deal with the Bills more than a week into free agency this offseason, despite the interest that Buffalo had shown in Julian Blackmon. The agreement did not produce notable playing time, as the former third-round pick saw just seven defensive snaps in three games for the Bills over the first nine weeks of the season.
It was actually Edwards who asked for the release from Buffalo. A day later, Edwards found his next contract in Nashville, presumably coming in to replace starting safety Quandre Diggs after a season-ending Lisfranc injury. Outside of starter Amani Hooker, the Titans have two young safeties on their roster: Mike Brown and Julius Wood. Brown is a third-year player who had just 58 snaps on defense on the year before matching that season total in a start last week. Wood is an undrafted rookie who has played exclusively on special teams.
It was presumed that Brown may take a bigger role while Edwards learned the defense, so it wasn’t a complete surprise that he got the start while Edwards remained inactive this week. Wednesday’s release, though, is a bit surprising. He leaves Tennessee having not played a single snap. It’s unclear what the reason was for his release, and it’s unclear what his plans are moving forward, but Edwards will likely aim to stay at his next destination a bit longer.
