Tennessee Titans sign free agent LB Kyzir White
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Tennessee Titans sign free agent LB Kyzir White
The Tennessee Titans are constantly looking to add talent any way they can. That’s the situation you find yourself in after winning just four games last year and earning the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. And, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Titans are signing eight-year veteran linebacker Kyzir White.
“Sources: The #Titans are signing former #Cardinals LB Kyzir White,” Schultz tweets. “White had 137 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 9 TFLs with Arizona last season.”
White is a tackling machine and should help tremendously at inside linebacker. Last year, he was a monster for the Arizona Cardinals and he went to a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022.
White was originally a fourth-round pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2018 NFL draft. In three of the past four seasons he’s registered 100+ tackles. The only year he failed to do so was in 2023 when he recorded 90 while playing in just 11 games.
White has seven years of experience with the Chargers, Eagles and Cardinals, and has accumulated 615 total tackles and 7.5 sacks in that time. The Titans will be making a corresponding move before making the signing official, but White should be ready to play against the Denver Broncos in Week 1.
Kyzir White was incredible for Arizona last year
How great was White for the Cardinals in 2024? Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis liked him so much that he decided to name his kid after him. Seriously.
“Kyzir specifically, I can tell my son ultimately what stands out about him and why he’s a captain is he’s the ultimate teammate, ultimate team-first guy,” Rallis said in November. “The model for accountability. There’s so many stories I could probably list to you, but the guy shows up every day with a smile on his face ready to go to work.”
“Takes a lot of ass chewings from me to be honest and he’s phenomenal with it like, ‘Yeah I like that! You make me better!’ It’s that kind of player that I have a lot of respect for.”
Many would think that just having his kid eventually wear his #54 jersey in Pop Warner would be tribute enough, but apparently Rallis is quite thorough.
Kyzir White strengthens a weak Titans’ linebacking core
White is a huge addition to a relatively poor crop of linebackers. In fact, Pro Football Focus ranked the linebackers as the team’s biggest weakness heading into the 2025 NFL season.
“Five linebackers played at least 200 snaps last season for the Titans, and none remain on their 2025 roster,” writes Dalton Wasserman. “The team’s only linebacker with significant experience is Cody Barton, who posted a 64.3 PFF overall grade last season in Denver. The other options at the position for Tennessee are James Williams, Otis Reese IV and Cedric Gray. They have combined to play fewer than 400 snaps in their respective careers.”
It’s still not exactly clear why White was still on the free-agent market this late in the game. He did have a visit with the Broncos not long ago, but obviously didn’t sign with them. Maybe it came down to playing time and opportunity. The Broncos have a first-tier defense and he’ll essentially be Dick Butkus on the Titans.