Defensive Lineman Added on Futures Contract

Tyler Shelvin was a fourth-round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021 and a key player on LSU's 2019 national championship team.

Katie Stratman / USA Today Sports

The Tennessee Titans have made their first roster move since Ran Carthon was introduced as their new general manager.

Veteran defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin was signed to a futures contract Monday. The 24-year-old had been available since the Cincinnati Bengals released him in early December.

A fourth-round pick by Cincinnati in 2021, he has been on and off that team’s practice squad for two seasons. He appeared in three games as a rookie and two more this season plus two more in the postseason, including last year’s divisional round victory over the Titans.

Shelvin (6-foot-3, 346 pounds) has notched four tackles in his career and has a reputation as a player who can occupy double teams so that linebackers can be free to make tackles.

He becomes the third defensive lineman to sign with Tennessee since the end of the regular season. Curtis Brooks and Jayden Peevy were among 11 who agreed to futures contracts days after the season-ending loss at Jacksonville.

Shelvin spent four years at LSU but redshirted as a true freshman and opted out of the 2020 campaign. In 2019, he started 14 games at nose tackle and registered 39 tackles with three tackles for loss in Tigers’ national championship season.

A Louisiana native, he was the state’s top-ranked high school player in 2016 a year after current Titans cornerback Kristian Fulton earned the same distinction.

Futures contracts are for the upcoming season and take effect on the first day of the new league year. The 2023 league year begins at 3 p.m. (Central) on March 15.