The NFL’s wide receiver draft class of 2019 is nearing the point in their careers where they sign their first big-money contract extensions. Unfortunately for the teams that drafted them, those wideouts have paid close attention to the offseasons Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill had.
Players like Deebo Samuel, AJ Brown and Terry McLaurin are all heading into the final year of bargain rookie contracts in 2022. All three are reportedly willing to hold out of their teams’ voluntary offseason programs this spring in hopes of speeding up negotiations. DK Metcalf, another member of that young cohort, is also in the market for a long-term deal but is expected to participate in Seattle’s workouts despite the franchise’s ongoing rebuild around him.
Each of the teams that drafted these players would be happy to keep them. It’s going to be much more expensive now that Adams and Hill have reset the market for wideout talent. Receivers are now the second-highest paid position in the NFL thanks to deals that gave Adams five years and $140 million and Hill four years and $120 million. In a little more than two years, the target number for elite pass catchers has risen from $22 million annually (Julio Jones’ number for 2020) to $30 million.
It’s not absurd to think they’ll get there in a landscape where Christian Kirk — who has averaged 59 catches and 725 yards per season in four years as a pro — can ink a deal with Jacksonville that gives him four years and $72 million. The salary cap is expected to rise from $208 million this year to somewhere between $220 and $225 million in 2023. In short, great wide receivers are going to get so, so much money.
But how much are we talking about? Let’s look at five Class of ’19 standouts and see if we can’t figure out what their next contracts will look like.