So why hasn’t Titans QB Marcus Mariota signed his contract yet?
It’s two weeks until the Tennessee Titans report to training camp, and Marcus Mariota has yet to sign his deal.
This is a storyline of yore, back before the latest CBA was ratified in 2011 and first-rounders often would hold out until the 11th hour to secure as much bonus money as they possibly could. Those days are over. Mariota is the only unsigned first-rounder; the way the financial structure is, he’s pretty much locked into a number.
So what’s the holdup?
Offset language.
What that is, boiled down, is that the Titans want the offset language in the contract, which allows them to avoid paying the full total of the money he signed for if they decide not to pick up the fifth year of his contract, which is how first-round deals are structured. Mariota wants to avoid the offset language, so that if he happens to have his deal end a year early, he can collect the full money from the Titans and still “double dip” with a new contract with his next team.
The Titans are adamant about including offset language, per this ESPN report. But why is it such a sticking point?
The Philadelphia Eagles offered the Titans half of Chip Kelly’s roster and a warchest of draft picks, the Liberty Bell and half the state of Pennsylvania for that No. 2 selection. The Titans said no — we want Mariota. If this is your guy, then why are you balking at paying a guy four years from now? Is doubt creeping in over whether he is a franchise QB?
The Titans say it’s a matter of principle, of tradition even.
“We’ve always had offset language in our player contracts. It’s nothing new,” Titans interim CEO and president Steve Underwood said. “I think it is important where a high first-round draft pick is concerned, because it’s the precedent. Everything that we do is precedential for the next round of contracts.
“So keeping the offset in place is something we want to be able to do going forward. And the minute you back away from the contract principle then you no longer are able to assert it going forward.”
Setting ugly precedents and all that aside, come on. No. 1 pick Jameis Winston has offset language in his deal, but his off-field issues gave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers leverage to have it added. No. 3 pick Dante Fowler does not have offsets. Both guys have been signed for months. This is basic stuff.
But in hesitating to get this deal done, you start to enter doubt in fans’ minds — is Mariota the next Brady Quinn, JaMarcus Russell or Blaine Gabbert? — and you also threaten to further keep him away from the facility.
Here’s a prediction: The Titans’ disjointed front office, as we get closer to the camp reporting date, will relent and give Mariota his full contract, without offset language. After all, if you pick a guy that high, shouldn’t you be confident he’ll be your QB for the next five years — and hopefully beyond? Yes.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
