Several receivers were paid this offseason. Several others are still waiting.
Last month, 35 more were drafted – including nine in the first 34 selections.
As more and more capable receivers enter the NFL via the low-cost rookie salary scale, it’s fair to wonder if/when more and more teams will refuse to pay a receiver and look for a replacement in the draft.
Two years ago, three teams did it. The Titans traded AJ Brown, the Packers traded receiver Davante Adams, the Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill. (Tennessee used the first-round pick it got for Brown on his replacement, Treylon Burks. The Packers went for quantity, drafting Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Samari Toure. And the Chiefs went with a low-cost committee approach that helped hand over all Lombardi Trophies awarded since Hill was traded.)
Now, with Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk, Bengals receiver Tee Higgins and Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb still clamoring for new contracts (all have stayed away from OTAs), the The question is whether they will eventually wipe out other teams. , also. The Vikings already have Jordan Addison, who is entering the second year of his rookie first-round contract. The 49ers added Ricky Pearsall to the draft. The Bengals took Jermaine Burton. And the Cowboys, well, who knows what they’re doing?
There is another side to this issue. In 2022, the Packers, Chiefs and Titans found trade partners who were willing to forego significant trade compensation — and who were willing to pay players the contract they wanted. Two years later, what if there is no team(s) to make the Vikings and Jefferson or the 49ers and Aiyuk or the Bengals and Higgins or the Cowboys and Lamb happy?
If Aiyuk wants Amon-Ra St. Brown money, maybe that’s why no one traded for him during the draft. And even though the Vikings insist they’re not considering trading Jefferson, it sometimes feels like they’re waiting for someone to make them an offer they can’t refuse. With Higgins, all signs point to the Bengals hunkering down on him in 2024 and then letting him walk. As for Lamb and the Cowboys, again, who knows what they’re doing?
The crux of the problem may be that teams are realizing it’s not necessary to give receivers a lot of money. May you craft one that is, dollar for dollar, a better deal.
That’s what’s happened over the last 20 years at the running back position. Teams generally stopped paying big money because they could roll the dice on the draft and then develop the player. While Burks didn’t exactly fill Brown’s shoes in Nashville, Jefferson was a Day One star after the Vikings traded him for Stefon Diggs in 2020. And the Packers are currently considered to have a deep group of young receivers. And again, the Chiefs have won every Super Bowl played since they traded Hill.
The problem for the Vikings, 49ers, Bengals and Cowboys is that the 2024 draft has already come and gone. Unless there is a player-for-player trade, swapping receivers now won’t help their former teams this season.
The big question is whether a trade will ever materialize. Why give up a first-round pick (or more) who could become a low-cost receiver for three or four years and also make a massive investment in a player whose shelf life is closer to tailback than quarterback?
I’m a card-carrying member, if not unofficial captain, of the Pay The Players brigade. However, just as the supply of running backs ended up impacting demand (and price), the same may be happening with receivers.
The best must still be paid. The challenge is to distinguish the best from those that can be easily replaced at a much lower cost. Or, in Jefferson’s case, drawing a line on how much the best should receive.
