Agents take great pleasure in inflating the value of contracts. Rarely are those who don’t distort and twist reality.
As a result, figures regarding the value of particular deals that are frequently shared are far larger than they actually are.
This dynamic is true for all positions, but the receiver position has the highest concentration of contracts that aren’t what they seem to be right now, particularly at the ostensible top of the market.
Tyreek Hill of the Dolphins is a good place to start. $30 million year! Untrue.
Beyond the new money/old money illusion that is frequently employed to artificially inflate contract value, Hill’s contract includes a fictitious $45 million payout in the final year. The new-money average is skillfully raised to $30 million.
In actuality, Hill’s deal has an annual new-money average of $25 million. The most accurate version of events is that he inked a four-year contract worth $23.8 million annually when he was dealt to Miami.
Moreover, $23.8 million is not even close to $30 million.
The Raiders’ Davante Adams comes in second on the list of highest-paid receivers. $28 million a year! False as well.
The fictitious $72.5 million back end of his contract, spread over two years, is designed to artificially inflate the average. In actuality, he has a three-year, $67.5 million contract. The actual yearly average is $22.5 million.
Michael Pittman, a receiver for the Colts, exchanged the franchise tag for a $70 million, three-year contract. This translates to an actual $23.3 million average and a 2027 return to the open market.
Calvin Ridley, a receiver for the Titans, agreed to a four-year $92 million contract. That’s a good $23 million annually. (The Titans can leave after two years, but Ridley’s salary is guaranteed to be $24 million through 2025.)
The new contract that Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs inked may be the greatest offer of them all. In addition to $22.5 million this year, he will receive a pass to the 2025 open market. Although some of them are, none of the other receivers on this list are scheduled to become free agents in 2019.
(especially Adams) might be cut before to the start of the new league season in March.
As the next group of receivers, including Brandon Aiyuk of the 49ers, Tee Higgins of the Bengals (who is subject to the franchise tag), Justin Jefferson of the Vikings, and Ja’Marr Chase of the Bengals, battle for their next contracts, keep these stats in mind.
The plain truth is that, when the contract is valued at the time it is signed, not a single receiver is currently earning even $24 million annually. Will there soon be receivers earning more than that? Chase and Jefferson most definitely should.
