The lone first-round pick who has yet to sign his contract is the Tennessee Titans‘ second-overall pick, quarterback Marcus Mariota. There have even been false reports suggesting that the issue keeping the two sides from coming to an agreement is that the Titans don’t want Mariota to surf, which is a big hobby of his as he hails from Hawaii. However, the real reason is the offset language in the contract for the years 2015-2018.

Essentially, if those years end up fully guaranteed, then the Titans will be forced to pay the entirety of Mariota’s contract, which would make it less likely that the team would release him if he struggles to adapt to the NFL. Obviously, the Titans want to protect themselves for the future by making some of those years not guaranteed in case things don’t work out.

Although I understand the argument from both sides, they will have to find a resolution quickly. With the Titans banking on Mariota to be the team’s starter in 2015, he can’t afford to miss any reps in training camp or he could be unprepared to start the season, which would force the team to turn to Zach Mettenberger. That’s a route the Titans don’t want to go.

The longer this dispute drags on, the more pressure falls on one of the sides to cave. Obviously, Mariota doesn’t want to give in because he would be potentially sacrificing a nice chunk of change, and the Titans don’t want to be locked into a situation where they end up paying Mariota despite his inability to help the team win.

How about making three of the four years guaranteed? That would give Mariota three years to prove himself, which is what young quarterbacks should get anyway. If it doesn’t work out by then, it would allow the Titans to get out of the deal a year early. It’s unlikely that Mariota’s camp would be happy to compromise, but if he’s confident in his abilities, he should have nothing to worry about.

Jason Fletcher is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.