Tennessee football: The significance of former Vols signing new NFL contracts

It’s March, and if you’ve heard the word “madness” over the last couple of days, it probably has to do with the NCAA’s annual basketball tournament. But NFL free agency, slated to begin March 17, also provides this month with a bit of chaos. Already, teams are gearing up for the period of commotion, and as a result, three former Tennessee football stars have a reason to celebrate.

Just recently, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Cam Sutton and Detroit Lions linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin all re-signed with their respective organizations. The three defensive players all played four seasons with UT under Butch Jones.

We’ll begin with Jalen-Reeves Maybin, who played linebacker for Tennessee football from 2013 to 2016. As one of the leaders of the Vols’ defense, Reeves-Maybin amassed 240 total tackles, eight sacks and two fumble recoveries over his four years on Rocky Top.

The Lions selected him in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft where he’s since recorded 90 total tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. On Monday, they re-signed him to a one-year deal worth $2.3 million guaranteed.

Another Tennessee football star who played from 2013 to 2016, Cam Sutton, compiled 127 tackles and seven interceptions over his four-year collegiate career in Knoxville. He too was selected in the 2017 NFL Draft, where the Pittsburgh Steelers snagged the Jonesboro, Ga. native in the third round.

Listed as a nickel corner, Sutton has played everywhere in the defensive secondary over his four seasons in the Steel City. On Monday, the Steelers locked up Sutton before he could hit the market as a free agent, signing him to a two-year deal worth $9 million.

Though he went undrafted in 2018, Emmanuel Moseley has the most money coming his way out of his previously mentioned former teammates. Moseley had 141 total tackles for Tennessee football from 2014-2017 before the 49ers signed him as an undrafted free agent.

In the Bay Area, Moseley has played in 29 games and appeared in one Super Bowl, totaling 98 tackles and two interceptions over his three seasons. Last week, he agreed to a new two-year deal worth $10.1 million.

Why is this important for Tennessee football right now?

If you don’t hear it enough, making it to the NFL is hard. A vast majority of Division I college football players never make it to the highest level. What’s even more difficult than breaking in the National Football League is staying there. According to Statista, the average career length in the NFL is right around 3.3 years.

In college football, everything can be retraced back to recruiting. Not only do the Vols now have three players primed to receive million-dollar contracts, but the program is also developing players to stay longer in the league.

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Think about how many players are selected each year that fall off the radar after a season or two. There aren’t as many payers leaving Tennessee’s football program to play in the NFL as other schools, but UT isn’t creating many busts, either.

What’s even more significant, though, is who helped those players succeed and where those coaches are now. Willie Martinez, who coached defensive backs under Butch Jones from 2013 to 2016, was hired by Josh Heupel at UCF and will return to Knoxville to coach Tennessee football’s cornerbacks in 2021.

Two of the newly paid cornerbacks we mentioned, Sutton and Moseley, were both developed by Martinez while playing for the Vols. Martinez even reached out to Moseley after hearing of his new deal. Here’s how Moseley responded.

Martinez’s resume, which includes stops at Georgia, Auburn and Oklahoma, is only further evidence to suggest his philosophy works on young DB’s. High school recruits notice which coaches have solid relationships with their former players. There’s reason to believe Martinez does with his.

Though Reeves-Maybin, Sutton and Moseley are no longer playing for Tennessee football on Saturdays, they do represent their alma mater and its football program every Sunday. By playing well at the top level, they help UT’s chances of bringing in top talent and competing with other strong teams in the SEC.