In an NFL offseason that saw unprecedented levels of player movement, wide receivers dominated the news cycle. It felt like a star receiver got dealt or inked a record-breaking contract every other day. Three Pro Bowl pass catchers—Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, and A.J. Brown—switched teams. Marquise Brown and Amari Cooper were also dealt. D.K. Metcalf is still a Seahawk but has been the subject of unrelenting trade rumors for a few months now, and the same goes for Deebo Samuel in San Francisco. Fresh off the best statistical season in NFL history, Cooper Kupp signed a new contract that will pay him an average salary of $26.7 million per year over the next half-decade.
Even with all of those big moves, though, Christian Kirk’s deal with Jacksonville may have created the most noise. Now, a good chunk of that came in the form of LOL Jaguars memes, after the team gave a receiver with no 1,000-yard seasons on his résumé a four-year, $72 million contract that could be worth up to $84 million. But the signing also sparked a fascinating positional value discussion. With so many skilled receivers already in the league, and more entering each year—nearly two months after Kirk’s payday, six receivers were selected in the first round of the NFL draft, which led all positions—would Kirk be one of the last people to benefit from the rapidly expanding receiver bubble? With so many talented wideouts in the league, the supply would eventually surpass the demand, right?
Maybe so, but we haven’t hit that point yet. Just last week, the Commanders gave Terry McLaurin, who averaged just more than 1,000 yards through his first three seasons, an extension that made him the fifth-highest-paid receiver in the league. McLaurin is far better than his numbers imply—you can blame Washington’s QB situation for that—and he’s completely deserving of the $71 million in new money that Washington gave him. But this is yet another case of a receiver gaining—and using—leverage; it’s another move away from the days when Terrell Owens had to give his QB the silent treatment, fight teammates in the locker room, and do sit-ups in his driveway just to force his way out of Philadelphia.
So where is all this newfound agency coming from? The most logical explanation can be found on the field. The sport’s evolution—with spread-out offenses and more athleticism on both sides of the ball than we’ve ever seen before—has made receivers with more robust skill sets, as well as deeper receiving corps in general, invaluable. Pass catchers have to be able to do a little bit of everything; and the second and third spots on the receiver depth chart have become just as important as the first.
Take the case of McLaurin. His ability to line up out wide or in the slot and to win at every level of the field is certainly worthy of a hefty contract in today’s NFL. And though his modest production looks like a mark against him, the Commanders have largely left him on an island without good quarterback play or receivers who can keep opposing defenses from selling out to stop him. Richard Sherman, who doesn’t typically go out of his way to compliment receivers, made a similar observation last February.
“If he had anybody else beside him and they couldn’t just double him and cloud him all the time, he’d be special,” Sherman said on the Cris Collinsworth Podcast. “But that’s the hard thing: They can’t find anybody else.”
McLaurin’s versatility allows Washington offensive coordinator Scott Turner to move him all over the formation. That’s why he’s so valuable. But without another receiver to pull coverage away from him, it doesn’t really matter. Turner is often forced to use his most talented player as a decoy, which is an effective strategy at times, but not an optimal use of McLaurin’s skills.
That’s not to say that it’s impossible to field a…
Read More: The NFL’s Wide Receiver Bubble Isn’t Bursting—at Least Not Anytime Soon