Titans relationship with their 2nd Round draft pick in a tricky spot already, thanks to a shocking decision from division rivals

The Tennessee Titans might have a problem on their hands with their 2nd Round rookie. If so, that would make them one of 30 teams in the league with the same issue right now.

I wrote about the background on this impending situation in more detail linked right here, but here’s the shorter version to get you up to speed:

Contracts for NFL draft picks are of pre-determined cost according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Teams don’t really negotiate with their picks in terms of how much they’ll be paid. That’s already known for each draft position ahead of time. So what is there to actually negotiate? A couple of finer details in terms of contract structure, including how much of the value of the contract will be fully guaranteed.

Unlike in other sports such as the NBA, the NFL has held off on giving full guarantees in contracts until just recently. As the value of the league continues to climb and player empowerment has increased, guarantees have gone up. And with draft picks, the inch that front offices have given them is threatening to turn into a mile.

Every first round pick at this point gets a fully guaranteed contract. And with each successive pick in the draft order getting a fully guaranteed contract, the precedent continues to establish a new norm. In 2024, Ladd McConkey—the first pick of the 2nd round, number 33 overall—came just short of a full guarantee. This year, the Browns and Texans somewhat hastily handed out fully guaranteed contracts to their 2nd round picks, number 33 Carson Schwesinger and number 34 Jayden Higgins. That was back in the spring, and since then, we’ve reached a bit of a logjam at pick 35.

The pick formerly belonging to the Titans (who have dodged a bullet in a sense by having traded it) turned into Seattle drafting Nick Emmanwori, who is obviously holding out for HIS full guarantee. Everybody in the round behind him is doing the same thing, and that’s why 30 of the 32 2nd rounders remain unsigned as of mid-July.

Alright, now you’re up to speed. So what’s new here? Well, what we wondered about earlier in the summer is beginning to materialize. Training Camp report dates are here, and the first unsigned 2nd rounder expected to show up… hasn’t. We have our first holdout.

The Chargers have the earliest report date on the calendar this year, and their new WR Tre Harris didn’t show. What makes this more interesting, as well as more pertinent to the Titans situation, is that this isn’t one of the guys picked in the 30’s. Harris was the 55th overall pick, 21 spots deep in the line to get signed. It stands to reason that this class-action holdout will break once one guy near the front finally signs for a little less than fully guaranteed. But if the 55th overall pick isn’t showing up, why would we expect the Titans pick at 52 to?

EDGE Femi Oladejo is that guy, and he’s being put in a tricky spot with all of this. All rookies need camp to develop of course, but he’s the kind of prospect who could especially use the work since he hasn’t been playing at the position for very long. Femi was a vocal participant in team activities earlier this year, both on and off the field. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who wants to hold out from his rookie training camp. But he has to do what’s best for his future, and he surely feels. Responsibility to his fellow draft picks to hold the line on this. So if he doesn’t show on July 22nd at St. Thomas Sports Park, I won’t be surprised at this point. And I won’t hold it against him.