Tight End Agrees to Futures Contract

Justin Rigg, undrafted out of the University of Kentucky in 2022, is known for his prowess as a blocker, has not played in an NFL regular season game.

Katie Stratman / USA Today Sports

NASHVILLE – It is now an even dozen for the Tennessee Titans.

Franchise officials announced Wednesday that tight end Justin Rigg has signed a futures contract for the 2023 season. His addition comes after 11 others signed similar deals early in the week.

Rigg (6-foot-6, 263 pounds) signed with Cincinnati after he was not selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. The Bengals waived him at the end of the preseason, and he spent nearly two weeks on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad before he was released.

“Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL so I (have) to come in every day and put in the best work that I can each and every day show up early leave late do the right things that Kentucky taught us and I’ve learned my entire life,” Rigg said last year during the Bengals’ rookie camp.

In six seasons at Kentucky (he redshirted as a true freshman and stayed through his super senior campaign), he caught 50 passes for 547 yards and five touchdowns. He set a program record with 63 games played and was a starter in 35 of them.

As his size suggests, he is known more as a blocker than a pass catcher. However, his receiving stats increased every year of his college career capped by 20 catches, 189 yards and four touchdowns in his final season.

With Cincinnati, he caught one pass for three yards in the preseason. It was a touchdown reception.

“I feel like (2021 at Kentucky), it showed that I can do more of the pass catching and running,” he told the Dayton Daily News last May. “But overall, I feel like the blocking is kind of my thing.”

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.