Why hasn’t Titans Femi Oladejo signed his rookie contract?

Why hasn’t Titans Femi Oladejo signed his rookie contract?

why hasn’t Titan second round pick Femi Oljo signed his rookie contract yet this topic has not gotten the attention it deserves but I think the reason behind it is fascinating especially if you’re an NFL super fan or a contract geek like me what’s up everyone justin Graver here alongside Justin Melo for the Music City Audible channel today we are covering a very under the radar issue femoljo the Titans second round pick is still unsigned and the reason is unlike anything we’ve seen before if you’re new here hit that like button subscribe to the channel and before I forget a big shout out to our sponsor Sinker Beverages the premier wine spirits and beer store in East Nashville also available on Uber Eats check out their website in the description for exclusive perks all right let’s get into this fascinating story yeah Graver before you get into it I I’ve always been known to interrupt i want to provide some context here to our listeners and our viewers as of this recording and I don’t think it’ll change by the time this drops Famiola Dejo the Titans second round pick who they chose at number 52 overall in the 2025 NFL draft he’s one of 30 second round picks who have not signed their rookie contracts yet that’s right out of 32 second round picks in the most recent draft only two of them have actually signed their contract and of course Titan second rounder Femiola Dejo is not part of that group he is still unsigned as of this recording yeah and for some reason this isn’t a super hot topic in the NFL media sphere but I feel like it should be because I mean you know Melo historically second round picks sign fairly quickly cuz the terms are already set by the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement the 2011 CBA established a rookie wage scale which limits how much players can earn on their first NFL contract it leaves very little room for negotiation outside of totally minor issues like offset language fully guaranteed contracts where every single dollar is guaranteed regardless of performance or injury are extremely rare for second round picks in fact until this year no second round pick had ever signed a fully guaranteed deal these kinds of contracts had always been reserved just for first round picks then came Jaden Higgins who was picked 34th overall by the Houston Texans back on May 8th the Texans gave Higgins the first fully guaranteed contract ever for a second round pick one day later the Cleveland Browns signed Carson Swessinger the 33rd overall pick to a fully guaranteed contract also they were in a bind picks 32 and 34 both had signed fully guaranteed contracts which took away a lot of negotiating power and leverage from the Browns so the Browns followed the Texans league and gave Sessinger a fully guaranteed deal suddenly agents for other second round picks including Femiola Dejo have seen an opportunity if Higgins and Swissinger could get fully guaranteed money why not their clients and this has led to a standoff with Ola Dejo’s agent likely pushing for similar terms the Titans just like every other team are resisting these new terms because they want to stick to the CBA framework but the pressure is on even if this story for some reason is flying under the radar and the biggest issue is there’s a ticking clock to resolve this ASAP unsigned rookies cannot participate in training camp this isn’t just a matter of no guarantees or protection against injury it’s a rule according to the NFL CBA a player must have a signed contract with an NFL team to be eligible to participate in training camp now unsigned rookies can attend rookie mini camps and organized team activities we just saw Famili out on the practice field with the Titans all throughout the spring stuff but they are not permitted to participate in training camp without a contract nfl fans know this is crucial because if you miss training camp time that can impact your preparation and it can impact team chemistry and obviously it can impact performance for ODO this means he’s currently on hold until a deal is reached and with a lack of both topend talent and depth at the edge position the Titans need Olio to hit the ground running they cannot afford to have him missing crucial days of training camp so I’m going to come in and add some context here number one as you said you know Femi was a full participant in everything otaas mandatory mini camp rookie mini camp this is very much a behindthe-scenes sort of precedence and standoff that’s going on and the Titans can thank their AFC rival the Houston Texans for starting this right another reason to hate the Texans if you don’t already hate them all kidding aside I kind of side with the Texans on this it’s good for these guys to get fully guaranteed contracts right but uh some other context femiola Dejo is represented by an agency Titans have a good relationship with okay in fact they also rep Jackson Slater another rookie the Titans drafted who’s already signed his rookie contract no standoff there cuz he was a fifth round pick there there’s no question marks over what that contract should look like right and by the way I want to mention how ironic is it that the Titans keep in mind they were originally picking at 35 right after the Browns and Texans signed those picks to guarantee deals of course that hadn’t happened yet titans trade down from 35 all the way to 52 where they pick Femiola Dejo and perhaps they think that’s going to give them some negotiating power team that traded up to 35 the Seahawks they took a safety Nick Amenori who goes without saying also hasn’t signed his rookie deal seahawks are really in a bind there right 33 and 34 get it then 35 should certainly get it what do both parties have to stand on the Titans might be waiting does the 50th pick get a fully guaranteed contract does the 51st pick the 53rd pick get a fully guarant maybe they’re hoping that this is going to be reserved for those first couple picks in the 30s whereas Femiola Dejo’s camp will be hoping no this is for all second round picks this is the new president so certainly his agency probably testing the waters a little bit here will the Titans budge on the guarantees terms of what used to be standard for second round terms or are they going to have to break it because of what the Texans and Browns did again under Mike Boroni Titans are probably a little reluctant to set a new set look at what’s happening in Cincinnati right now with their first round pick Samar Stewart it’s a way bigger deal what’s happening out there where they’re trying to change some of the language of his deal if I got the situation correct apparently it’s similar to what other teams have done with first round picks but the Bengals have never done it before so the agency is kind of pushing back saying “We’re not signing that deal.” He left mini camp and stopped participating the Titan situation with Femiola Dejo is nowhere near that level nor is it going to get there so we think right but this is what happens when new precedence is set right it it tends to lead to standoffs at least for a couple weeks or maybe even a couple months so we’ll see what happens here but that that new precedent set by the Texans and the Browns it is sort of affecting all of the team second round picks potentially moving forward and the longer this drags on the bigger of a story it will become the Titans are going to want to get this resolved and so will Fei so again to sort of summarize here why hasn’t Deja signed yet it’s a combination of precedence and leverage the Higgins and Schweinger deals it gave all NFL agents leverage and teams are certainly worried about future negotiation so for Fei it’s going to be about pushing for a fully guaranteed contract his representation pushing for a fully guaranteed deal for a second rounder whereas the Titans will try to hold firm and say “Hey you know that’s 33rd and 34th overall we don’t know what’s going to happen once you get all the way down to 50th overall the fascinating part again this is happening without a whole lot of buzz but it is a potential game changer for how second round picks sort of negotiate these contracts moving forward and it’s very notable to the situation surrounding the Titans and their second round pick Feiola so there you go femiola Dejo’s unsigned contract it’s part of a larger trend but obviously we don’t care about larger trends here we care about what’s happening with the Titans and this is potentially a historic moment i mean this could challenge the CBA structure and create new leverage for agents and for Iljo it means his preparation is on hold the Titans need him to be ready for camp look at the end of the day I think this is going to get resolved before training camp begins at the latest titans aren’t on the field till July 23rd i believe they report on the 22nd so they got about three and a half weeks to get this resolved they’re probably hoping someone else moves first i think that’s why we’re in a holding pattern the whole league is waiting for someone else to move first to see what to do next i I do think the Titans and Fei will get this resolved they need him on the field he wants to be on the field you’ve seen his energy at mini camp OTAAS this is a team first guy all parties involved want to get this resolved you wonder if there’s middle ground and there’s actually an interesting example to follow so last year the 33rd overall picked Keon Coleman the first pick of the second round by the Buffalo Bills he had nearly 96% of his rookie deal fully guaranteed this might have started then to be honest with you like that might have kind of kickstarted this campaign 96% guaranteed is pretty darn close to 100 i’m not a mathematician but that’s pretty close whereas by comparison the last pick of the second round the San Francisco 49ers took a corner Renardo Green he only had just a little over 50% of his contract fully guaranteed so that proves there’s some negotiating power here where did the Titans land does he get 60% fully 75% fully guaranteed does the trends follow all the way through the second round is that new precedence and he gets closer to 100 these are the really important fine details both sides are working through right now but ultimately I do think this will get resolved before training camp really no reason to worry in my opinion if you’re a Titans fan but because this is going so under reportported and undercovered I thought it was worth sort of educating Titans fans because look Titans made nine picks in the 2025 NFL draft eight of them have signed their contract including the number one overall pick Cam Ward in the past it was hardest to get your first round pick signed titans had the number one pick and they’ve already got him signed that’s why this is so fascinating to me it’s their second rounder Femiola Dejo who’s got a bit of a more confusing situation surrounding his rookie deal yep there you have it let us know in the comments what you think is this just sort of a quiet standoff it doesn’t really matter it’s going to be resolved before training camp or is this the start of a new era for second round contracts it could be both drop your thoughts in the comments below let us know if you think Feedjo will sign before training camp and what this could mean for the Titans defense thanks for watching everyone if you enjoyed this video make sure to hit that like button subscribe to the channel and check out the Music City Audible podcast for more Titans coverage a big thanks to Sinker Beverages for their support until next time y’all stay safe out there and tighten

Justin Melo and Justin Graver break down why Titans second-round pick Femi Oladejo still hasn’t signed his rookie contract. What’s taking so long, and when can we expect a resolution?

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