Delay In Draft Pick Signings Not Unique

If it seems that it has taken longer for the Tennessee Titans to sign their draft picks this year, that’s because it has.

Two months have now passed since the 2020 NFL Draft and only half of Tennessee’s six selections are under contract. The team announced a deal with seventh-round choice Cole McDonald, a quarterback out of Hawaii, on Monday. That happened nearly a month after fifth-round choice Larrell Murchison, a defensive tackle from North Carolina State, and Chris Jackson, a cornerback from Marshall, finalized their pacts.

That actually puts general manager Jon Robinson and his staff ahead of the curve for this year. As of Wednesday afternoon, only a little more than 27 percent of this year’s 255 total selections have contracts. Of the 32 first-round choices, only three have their deals in place.

A month before rookies are scheduled to report to camp, 186 draft picks remain unsigned, including 29 of 32 first-rounders, per NFLPA memo. Some clubs continuing to tell agents they’re waiting to conduct physicals at club facilities, which remains barred because of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/ZT6w177Yi1
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 24, 2020

The Titans’ top three picks – tackle Isaiah Wilson, cornerback Kristian Fulton and running back Darrynton Evans – remain unsigned.

Last year, it was June 13 that the last of Tennessee’s six choices in the 2019 NFL Draft signed his contract. That was second-round choice A.J. Brown. First-round pick Jeffery Simmons signed on May 23, less than a month after his draft date. The first of those six – fifth-round pick D’Andre Walker and sixth-round choice David Long – started the signings on May 10.

Multiple reports indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult for teams to conduct physicals needed before teams commit the kind of money that comes with these contracts.

Murchison, McDonald and Jackson have been paid fewer than $115,000 combined in signing bonuses. Conversely, Wilson’s contract is expected to exceed $11.5 million and to include of signing bonus of $6 million.

Rookie contracts are determined by each team’s share (based on total picks and where they fall in the order) of a $1.4 million rookie pool and the need to fit under the league’s overall $198 million salary cap. That system has been in place since 2011 and has made it much easier for teams to sign their draft choices – until now.