By Lucas Kochevar
In a draft class as loaded as this one, the wide receiver market has been brutal. Out of 72 active free agents, only 28 guys have signed and four of those contracts have been multi-year deals over $10 million. Similar to the slow moving baseball free agency, these wide receivers will likely have to wait until after the draft. My quick scouting thoughts on this year's wide receiver class: They’re good. Marvin Harrison Jr. has been a generational prospect for years and he’s starting to get that prospect fatigue that Caleb Williams is suffering from. Rome Odunze is a star in my eyes that can do it all. Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. can become a similar NFL duo to Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. Plus there’s many other guys that can slip into that first round like AD Mitchell, Ladd McConkey and Keon Coleman. All these names could be key members of winning teams in the future, but what about the present? The four guys that I mentioned earlier with contracts above $10 million include Calvin Ridley, Gabe Davis, Darnell Mooney and Curtis Samuel. I like all of these players, but I’m not a fan of their contracts. I don’t say this as a slight to the players at all. Good for them and good for their agents, but the contracts seem a little rich for my blood, especially when you consider the circumstances around them. This is easy to say in the moment as sticker price will always scare fans at first glance. There's a chance these deals look like steals in three years. First, the Titans and Ridley. Tennessee wanted to give Will Levis as many weapons as they could as Ridley is a productive receiver. In his first season since his gambling suspension, Ridley put up over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns. His contract hits for four years and $92 million. It’s a lot of money for a 29-year old receiver but it’s also a lot when you consider they had a similar offer on the table for a younger receiver named A.J. Brown, who is thriving with the Eagles. Once again, Ridley is good and productive, but getting close to his thirties and spending that much money on him scares me to high heavens. The next guy on the list is Gabe Davis, who left Buffalo for Jacksonville. Davis is the quintessential home run or strikeout receiver. He’s either going for 150 yards and two touchdowns or he’s getting two catches for 12 yards. Davis is coming off his two best years as a pro, but he still hasn’t eclipsed 900 yards. His contract isn’t a crazy overpay or anything, but with the Jaguars already paying Christian Kirk and Evan Engram, it seems a little much. Darnell Mooney received the same contract from the Falcons and it seems crazy that Mooney got this amount, but when you look at his production it’s not that different from Davis. Davis clears Mooney in touchdowns, but when you remember that Davis had Josh Allen and Mooney was on the Bears, it makes sense. Once again, they’re not bad, but the sticker price looks worse than what it actually is. The last guy to receive a nice contract is Curtis Samuel with Buffalo. I like Samuel and it’s the reason why he tricks me in fantasy football every year. He dealt with injuries throughout his time in Washington, but he’s a shifty playmaker that might become the dynamic weapon we remember in Buffalo. Hollywood Brown in Kansas City is terrifying. He’s another home run hitter, but that’s all Kansas City needs him for. The Chiefs replacing Kadarius Toney for Hollywood seems like the scariest possible outcome for the league. The three-peat might be on the way for KC. Now it’s time for my new favorite thing to write, the one sentence summary of guys left in free agency. Fun fact, I wrote this earlier before Williams signed with the Jets, so I had to edit the first sentence. Mike Williams is a stud receiver and can catch contested balls with the best of them, but his ACL injury lands him a one-year prove it deal in New York. Hunter Renfrow has a big outlier season under his belt, but that seems more like a testament to how dysfunctional the Raiders offense was with Josh McDaniels. Odell Beckham Jr. continues his tour around the NFL as he’ll be on his fourth team in three seasons. Tyler Boyd and Josh Reynolds will be steals for whatever team decides to sign them because they do the little things better than most of the guys left in free agency. I was right about that fraud Michael Thomas as he sits in free agency with little interest.
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Lucas KochevarI love sports and I'm a local fan of the Falcons, Hawks, and Braves. You can find my quick thoughts and more on my twitter @lucaswkochevar |