While most of the free agency discussion in the NFL is centered around the quarterback contracts due to Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck and Ryan Tannehill, there are a group of wide receivers looking to get their money as well. Right now Calvin Johnson is the highest paid receiver after earning a seven-year, $113 million deal with the Detroit Lions. No one has come close to that number since. However, Julio Jones, Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas and AJ Green are all battling to be the next top-paid receiver and none of their teams are budging on a deal.
2016 is going to be a big year for contracts in the NFL, especially with wide receivers. This offseason, both Bryant and Thomas were forced into the franchise tag after the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos could not come terms on respective contracts. Jones and Green are entering their fifth-year options and will be hoping to avoid the same fate next summer. The issue is waiting for one of those players to sign as teams remain hesitant to be the ones to set the market for other wide receivers.
Dallas Cowboys team vice president Stephen Jones shed light on the situation with the wide receivers noting that most of them are holding out to see what someone else earns first.
"There's three or four young receivers in this league other than Dez that are going to be looking for long term contracts," Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News."No one has been able to really figure out what they think the market should be. I think ultimately we'll get this done. No one wants to have Dez long term involved with the Dallas Cowboys more so than our organization, Jerry and myself. Our goal is to get it done, get it done long term, so we can move forward and let Dez continue to make all the great plays he's made up until this point."
Vaughn McClure of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Falcons want to get Jones under contract this offseason and have no intentions of waiting. General manager Thomas Dimitroff made it clear that they intend to keep Jones around for the long-term and hope to get a deal done quickly. Meanwhile, Broncos' president John Elway said he has been in discussion with Thomas' representation, but a deal was not close to being finalized.
The chances any of those wide receivers sign this offseason seem slim. The likely outcome is Bryant or Thomas setting the market next summer and Jones and Green quickly following with deals as well. While the top receivers seek contract extension, James Jones, Reggie Wayne and Wes Welker are all hoping to ink some kind of deal regardless of the numbers involved.
