Veteran Outside Linebacker Added to Defense

Tarell Basham was sidelined by a quad injury for an extended period earlier this season.

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans have added another player to their active roster who spent time on injured reserve this season.

The difference is that he was on another team’s injured reserve.

Monday, the Titans signed outside linebacker Tarell Basham, who was released by the Dallas Cowboys last Tuesday. He appeared in two games for the Cowboys this season, a Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a mid-November defeat against the Green Bay Packers. In between, he missed almost two months with a quad injury.

In a corresponding move, wide receiver Cody Hollister was placed on injured reserve. Hollister played in the first 11 games (a career-high) before a neck injury kept him out of action Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. He had three receptions for 54 yards and four special teams tackles.

Hollister will miss at least the next four games, which means the earliest he possibly could return is for the regular season finale at Jacksonville.

Basham (6-foot-4, 266 pounds) is a fifth-year veteran who has played for three different teams. Before he went to Dallas in 2021, he spent time with the Indianapolis Colts (2107-18) and New York Jets (2018-20).

For his career, he has notched 123 tackles, 11 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one interception in 77 games (18 starts). In his two appearances with the Cowboys this season, he was not credited with a tackle over 26 snaps on defense and seven more on special teams.

He had a career-high 39 tackles and matched his personal best with three and a half sakcs last season with Dallas.

He entered the NFL as a third-round pick by the Colts in 2017.