Corey Davis Signed and That is a Really Good Thing

Rookie wide receiver Corey Davis is with the team after holding out.

Luckily for the Titans, Corey Davis decided to end his holdout with the team after missing one day of training camp. This could have been a disaster in Nashville after drafting the wide receiver fifth overall in the 2017 NFL draft. Davis is represented by an agency that seems to like holdouts. According to Connor Orr of NFL.com, the agent that Davis is working with is Tom Condon of Creative Artists Agency. Condon also represents last year’s lengthy holdout Joey Bosa. Bosa’s holdout lasted all the way until the end of August last season. That is a lot of time for a rookie to miss because of contract language.

Tennessee Titans

For those that do not know, the NFL has an agreement where players receive an exact amount of money based on where they are drafted. This was created to prevent teams from giving out ridiculous contracts to players that have not even stepped foot on an NFL field. Also, this was a protection against the lengthy holdout. Teams were getting tired of NFL rookies holding out to sign contracts because they thought they deserved more money. Overall, it has worked pretty smoothly aside from clients represented by the Creative Artists Agency.

Why it matters?

Holdouts are a way for players to refuse to play until they get the contract they desire. It is a scare tactic to help the player get an advantage. Most of the time it is about money, but according to Connor Orr of NFL.com, it was over contract language. Sports agents are supposed to have their players best interests at heart. If the Titans were trying to take advantage of Davis, it is the agent’s right to protect his/her client. The other end of it is having the player miss significant training camp reps. Training camp may not be the most important thing in the world for veteran football players, but it is important for rookies. Training camp is essentially the first step towards turning a college player into an NFL player.

Davis needs to be at training camp to learn the system. He also needs to be there to start building a relationship with players on the team. When the rest of the team is at training camp and the new kid is not, it is never a good situation. Davis also needs to get time with his new quarterback to build a rapport with him. All of these factors are lacking with a lengthy holdout. Luckily, Davis signed and reported to camp. He missed one day, so that will not be the end of the world. Good thing he signed and is on his way to getting action in the Titans lineup.