The Tennessee Titans have made their first moves involving players with an eye on the 2023 campaign on Tuesday by signing a bunch of players to futures contracts.
Tennessee signed 11 to be exact, but before we get to the list, here’s an explanation of what futures contracts are, per Pro Football Network’s Ben Rolfe:
An NFL futures contract is essentially exactly what it says it is. It is a contract that secures an NFL player to a team for the future. The reason it is designated as a “futures contract” is that the player is not officially under contract until the start of the following league season.
The reason that differentiation is important is that the player’s contract does not count against the salary cap or the roster limit for the current season. Instead, it is credited against the following year’s salary cap, and the player counts against the offseason 90-man roster limit.
However, it is crucial to note that once a player signs a futures contract, they are placed on a reserve/futures list and cannot negotiate with other teams. Unlike with practice squads, teams cannot sign other teams’ players with a futures contract. That means NFL general managers and coaches can be confident in having the bottom part of their roster settled for OTAs and training camp.
Now, the 11 futures signings, all of whom were on the practice squad at the end of the year.