The Tennessee Titans are one of several teams who have yet to ink their 2021 third-round picks, cornerback Elijah Molden and linebacker Monty Rice, and on Wednesday we received some insight into why that might be the case.
According to NFL Insider Adam Caplan, third-round picks are looking for “a fully-compensated four-year deal” that includes “maxing out base salaries under the 25 percent rule.”
What is the 25 percent rule? Here’s an explanation that comes from NFL.com’s 2021 free agency glossary:
25 percent increase rule: Unless a player’s base salary is set at the minimum every year, no team can sign a player to a contract that would give him a raise of more than 25 percent annually. So, the second year of the contract can’t provide a salary more than 25 percent of the first year, and after that, each subsequent year can’t offer an increase of more than 25 percent of his previous year’s salary.
Caplan points to Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins as an example of a third-rounder who signed a fully-compensated deal. The Michigan product’s contract is worth $4.8 million over four years, per Spotrac.
On why there are still a decent number of 3rd-rd picks in 2nd half of the round unsigned:
Players who haven’t signed yet want a fully compensated 4-yr deal (IE: maxing out base salaries under the 25% rule). #Texans Nico Collins (#26th in 3rd) signed a fully compensated deal.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) July 14, 2021
Molden and Rice are the only Titans 2021 draft picks that remain unsigned, and up until this point we didn’t know why. This appears to answer that question.
According to Spotrac, there are over 20 third-round picks around the league who have yet to sign their rookie deals, so the Titans aren’t the only team going through this at the moment.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Titans can get both players under contract before the team reports to training camp on July 27. Last year, Tennessee didn’t have its full draft class under contract until early August.
