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The Detroit Lions have wrapped up one final piece of contractual business before the start of training camp, agreeing to a deal with second-round pick Tate Ratledge on a four-year contract on Thursday, July 17.
Under the NFL's slotted rookie salary system, Ratledge's contract is worth $7.648 million total and includes a $2.21 million signing bonus, according to OverTheCap.com.
Fox's Jordan Schultz was the first to report the signing.
A league source confirmed the signing to the Free Press on Thursday night.
The Georgia alumnus was one of approximately 30 second-round picks from April's draft holding out after the Houston Texans gave their Round 2 pick, wide receiver Jayden Higgins a full-guaranteed contract months ago. The Cleveland Browns soon followed with a full-guarantee contract for their second-rounder, linebacker Carson Schwesinger, but the rest of the NFL balked at fully guaranteeing a second-round contract.
LIONS INSIDER: Detroit Lions training camp is here: 9 players under the spotlight this summer
By contrast, the Lions' second-rounder last season, cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. signed a $6.485 million deal with just over half guaranteed – $3.42 million in guaranteed money, including a $1.53 million signing bonus.
It is not known how much of Ratledge's contract is fully guaranteed.
The No. 57 pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, Ratledge is in the mix to replace Frank Ragnow as the Lions' starting center this fall. Ragnow, a two-time second-team All-Pro, announced his retirement after seven NFL seasons this spring, making it official on Thursday.
Ratledge played exclusively right guard in college at Georgia, where he helped the Bulldogs win two national championships, but doubled as the team's backup center and spent most of the spring snapping for the Lions.
"It's going to become natural for him," Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley said. "I thought what he did in rookie minicamp was pretty good for handling that.
"Our centers, like across the whole league, they do a lot, they have a lot on their plates. They're like quarterbacks on that O-line. They set a lot of the protections, a lot of the calls and they work one-on-one with the QB. So in time he's going to get it down and become a pretty good center here.”
If Ratledge does not win the center job, he should start at one of the guard spots for the Lions this fall.
Graham Glasgow played left guard last season, but moved to right guard during Organized Team Activities and has starting experience at center. Christian Mahogany, a 2024 sixth-round pick, could take over at left guard after making fill-in starts at both guard spots last season.
"Center's not as natural for him just yet, so you definitely are going to tend to probably give him more reps at that, snapping the ball, make it more comfortable," Fraley said of Ratledge. "But see him helping us definitely interior. I know the young man, getting to know him now more after rookie minicamp and prior to that, that he's going to do whatever I ask."
The Lions, who traded up three spots to take Ratledge in the second round of April's draft, previously signed their other six draft picks. Day 3 draft choices Miles Frazier, Ahmed Hassanein, Dan Jackson and Dominic Lovett signed before the start of rookie camp, and first-round choice Tyleik Williams and third-rounder Isaac TeSlaa signed in mid-May.
Across the league, second-round choices were slow to sign this year as teams and players negotiated over how much money was guaranteed in Years 3 and 4 of player contracts. Chris Braswell, the No. 57 pick of the 2024 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, received two fully guaranteed seasons, a partial guarantee of $232,247 in Year 3 and no guarantee in Year 4, according to OverTheCap.
Entering Thursday, just two of this year's second-round picks had signed contracts.
This story was updated to reflect a confirmation of the agreement.
Dave Birkett is the author of the book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions get deal done with second-round pick Tate Ratledge
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Under the NFL's slotted rookie salary system, Ratledge's contract is worth $7.648 million total and includes a $2.21 million signing bonus, according to OverTheCap.com.
Fox's Jordan Schultz was the first to report the signing.
A league source confirmed the signing to the Free Press on Thursday night.
The Georgia alumnus was one of approximately 30 second-round picks from April's draft holding out after the Houston Texans gave their Round 2 pick, wide receiver Jayden Higgins a full-guaranteed contract months ago. The Cleveland Browns soon followed with a full-guarantee contract for their second-rounder, linebacker Carson Schwesinger, but the rest of the NFL balked at fully guaranteeing a second-round contract.
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LIONS INSIDER: Detroit Lions training camp is here: 9 players under the spotlight this summer
By contrast, the Lions' second-rounder last season, cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. signed a $6.485 million deal with just over half guaranteed – $3.42 million in guaranteed money, including a $1.53 million signing bonus.
It is not known how much of Ratledge's contract is fully guaranteed.
The No. 57 pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, Ratledge is in the mix to replace Frank Ragnow as the Lions' starting center this fall. Ragnow, a two-time second-team All-Pro, announced his retirement after seven NFL seasons this spring, making it official on Thursday.
Ratledge played exclusively right guard in college at Georgia, where he helped the Bulldogs win two national championships, but doubled as the team's backup center and spent most of the spring snapping for the Lions.
"It's going to become natural for him," Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley said. "I thought what he did in rookie minicamp was pretty good for handling that.
"Our centers, like across the whole league, they do a lot, they have a lot on their plates. They're like quarterbacks on that O-line. They set a lot of the protections, a lot of the calls and they work one-on-one with the QB. So in time he's going to get it down and become a pretty good center here.”
If Ratledge does not win the center job, he should start at one of the guard spots for the Lions this fall.
Graham Glasgow played left guard last season, but moved to right guard during Organized Team Activities and has starting experience at center. Christian Mahogany, a 2024 sixth-round pick, could take over at left guard after making fill-in starts at both guard spots last season.
"Center's not as natural for him just yet, so you definitely are going to tend to probably give him more reps at that, snapping the ball, make it more comfortable," Fraley said of Ratledge. "But see him helping us definitely interior. I know the young man, getting to know him now more after rookie minicamp and prior to that, that he's going to do whatever I ask."
The Lions, who traded up three spots to take Ratledge in the second round of April's draft, previously signed their other six draft picks. Day 3 draft choices Miles Frazier, Ahmed Hassanein, Dan Jackson and Dominic Lovett signed before the start of rookie camp, and first-round choice Tyleik Williams and third-rounder Isaac TeSlaa signed in mid-May.
Across the league, second-round choices were slow to sign this year as teams and players negotiated over how much money was guaranteed in Years 3 and 4 of player contracts. Chris Braswell, the No. 57 pick of the 2024 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, received two fully guaranteed seasons, a partial guarantee of $232,247 in Year 3 and no guarantee in Year 4, according to OverTheCap.
Entering Thursday, just two of this year's second-round picks had signed contracts.
This story was updated to reflect a confirmation of the agreement.
Dave Birkett is the author of the book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions get deal done with second-round pick Tate Ratledge
Continue reading...
