Tate Ratledge Deal Delay
The Detroit Lions’ 2025 draft class has mostly dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s—but second-round guard Tate Ratledge remains unsigned as OTAs kick off. It’s not about Ratledge dragging his feet; it’s a league-wide standoff over fully guaranteed contracts for second-rounders.
TL;DR:
Ratledge is one of roughly 30 second-round picks still negotiating deals.
A precedent set by fully guaranteed contracts for other R2 rookies has agents pushing for similar guarantees.
As Ari Meirov explains, “none, zero, nada” second-rounders have signed since that benchmark.
Ratledge Deal Delay: What’s the Hold-Up?
Most Lions rookies—Tyleik Williams, Isaac TeSlaa, Miles Frazier, Ahmed Hassanein, Dan Jackson, Dominic Lovett—signed weeks ago. Ratledge’s camp, however, is waiting on the wider trend. After the 34th pick (Jayden Higgins) and 33rd pick (Carson Schwesinger) landed fully guaranteed contracts, agents across the second round dialed up demands, putting Ratledge in the same boat.
Full Quote from Ari Meirov on Second-Round Guarantees
Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team laid it out clearly:
“It all started when Jayden Higgins, the rookie wide receiver for the Houston Texans, taken with the 34th overall pick, got a brand new deal, a brand new thing that’s never happened for a second-rounder, he had a fully guaranteed contract,” Meirov said as quoted by A to Z Sports. “Carson Schwesinger, the player taken right before him by the Cleveland Browns, the UCLA linebacker. He then also got a fully guaranteed contract. Since then, none, zero, nada. Not one second-rounder has signed any contract at all since that took place. I assume that’s got to be the holdup with all these agents now trying to work with teams saying, ‘we want fully guaranteed contracts.’”
What’s Next for Ratledge and Detroit
The good news? Ratledge is already in pads for OTAs, running routes and hitting the sled. Detroit’s brass has little incentive to cave too quickly—fully guaranteed deals carry injury risk. That said, look for a deal before training camp, so all focus can shift to on-field performance.