The Tennessee Titans have waived 24-year-old offensive lineman Garrett Dellinger, ending his brief second stint with the club just days before the 2026 regular-season opener.
The move, confirmed via the NFL transaction log, opened a 53-man roster spot for veteran guard Atonio Mafi, whom Tennessee claimed off waivers from the Las Vegas Raiders.
Dellinger, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound guard out of LSU, was originally a seventh-round pick (No. 243 overall) by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Ravens cut him at the end of training camp. Cleveland signed him to its practice squad, then promoted him in mid-December.
He made his only NFL appearance that week against the Chicago Bears, playing 29 snaps as a reserve and grading well enough that Pro Football Focus ranked him among Cleveland’s better offensive performers that afternoon. The Browns waived him two days later. Tennessee claimed him immediately.
He did not play in the Titans’ final three games of 2025. In March, Tennessee tendered him as an exclusive-rights free agent and signed him to a one-year deal worth about $1.005 million.
Dellinger survived the initial 53-man cutdown at the end of August and remained on the active roster through the first week of September. The late addition of Mafi — a 2023 fifth-round pick by New England who has started five career games — ended that stay.
The Titans plan to start Peter Skoronski at left guard and fifth-round rookie Fernando Carmona Jr. at right guard against the New York Jets on Sunday.
Mafi gives the interior line another experienced body behind those two and Jackson Slater. Dellinger, still only 24 and with just one NFL game on his résumé, now hits the waiver wire again.
His path is familiar for late-round linemen: drafted, cut, claimed, re-signed, then cut again when a slightly more proven veteran becomes available.
He started 30 games at LSU across left guard, left tackle and center, including a full 2023 season on an offense that led the country in scoring.
That versatility and size keep him in the conversation for another practice-squad or emergency-call-up opportunity.
For now, the Titans have chosen experience over the younger developmental piece as they open the Robert Saleh era.
