As time goes by, it’s becoming clear how smart Howie Roseman was a few months back to give A.J Brown a huge $100M payday. The Washington Commanders actually did something right. After Terry McLaurin held out for the opening portion of offseason activities due to his contract situation, the team gave him a three-year extension worth $70M.
A.J Brown joins the Eagles
The Eagles made a hyper-aggressive move in trading for the former Tennessee Titan. They knew that acquiring him would also mean giving him a meaty contract that the Titans could not match. It’s easy to be concerned about the level of money given to Brown, knowing full well that his targets are going to drop while playing alongside a 1B wideout in DeVonta Smith. But in typical Howie fashion, he jumped the market.
Hunter Renfrow inked a two-year deal worth $32M with $21M guaranteed. That averages around $16M per year. He had a 1,038 yard campaign in 2021. Brown has had two 1,000+ yard campaigns and an 869-yard outing in 2021. Understandably, Brown demanded a much bigger payday and the average salary to go with it.
Why the deal matters
The price of wideouts sky-rocketed this offseason. There are now 10 receivers earning an average of $20M+ per season, which is wild. Roseman saw where this was headed and decided to jump the gun.
Prior to yesterday’s move, the pride of the 2019 WR draft class had yet to sign their deals. Deebo Samuel, D.K Metcalf, and Diontae Johnson are all sitting patiently on the sidelines waiting for their names to be called, knowing that a big payday is about to hit their bank accounts.
Terry McLaurin joins the party
The McLaurin deal is an interesting one. At 26-years-old, scary Terry has back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons and has achieved that with arguably the most unstable rotation of quarterbacks a dominant wideout has ever had to work with.
McLaurin’s deal might be shorter in nature, but he’s earning an average of $2M less than A.J Brown per year, and only $5M less in guaranteed money. Terry has played in 3 more games than Brown, but they near enough mirror each other in terms of production.
The Eagles paid A.J Brown a premium up-front knowing that guys like McLaurin and Metcalf both had upcoming negotiations, and Christian Kirk’s monster deal just totally reset the market. The fact that McLaurin’s deal so closely resembles Brown’s is a testament that this deal was anything but an overpay. It’s right in line with what a wideout of his caliber should be being paid. Considering the leaps the WR market made this offseason, that was a feat that felt almost impossible to accomplish, but once again, as time passes, Howie Roseman’s decision to jump the gun only gets better with age.
Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire
