In my estimation, cutting down that much greatly deceases your chance of dying from it, but it is still likely to have some effects. If it is so much more satisfying and you are an unusual person who can stick to it, it does make some sense, though being more harmful than vaping.
I took 9 months to transition and was at the 5 cigs level for probably 2 months. The advantage of not being that satisfied by pure nicotine is once you do go all the way to vaping, the nicotine addiction is tiny.