The Cleveland Browns signed wide receiver Jerry Jeudy to a three-year extension after trading away a fifth and sixth round pick last week to acquire him.
The extension has people in an uproar as it was reported that he signed a three-year deal worth $58 million in total with $41 million guaranteed. Those numbers are a bit fluky on the surface.
According to PFF’s contract expert Brad Spielberger, the true nature of Jeudy’s extension is actually $17.5 million in base salary with the ability to earn another $1.75 million per year in incentives. Spielberger also stated that he is 99 percent sure that Jeudy’s $12.9 million the Browns are set to pay him in 2024 is rounded into that $41 million guaranteed figure.
So, when taking the incentives out (and if he earns the incentives then that means he’s living up to the contract!), Jeudy’s contract extension is essentially a three-year deal worth $52.5 million, with just around $28 million in guaranteed money.
This is much easier to digest than the initially reported $41 million in guaranteed money.
However, both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars did it two years ago, committing even more money to Diontae Johnson and Christian Kirk respectively.
Johnson was given a two-year extension in August of 2022, paying him over $18 million per year with $27 million of that guaranteed money. The Jaguars opened 2022 free agency with a bang that year, signing Kirk to a massive four-year deal at $18 million per year with $37 million guaranteed.
So yes, committing $17.5 million per year to a wideout who has never had a 1,000-yard receiving season is risky. But the move is not an unprecedented one by the Browns.