The news of Odell Beckham Jr.’s $90 million contract extension brought joy and dancing to the Giants’ locker room and quiet to one of the team’s loudest off-field concerns. It’s a win for Beckham, obviously, and for the Giants, who have secured the services (and, presumably, the happiness) of their best player for the foreseeable future.
But what’s it mean for the rest of the league?
Yes, Beckham’s extension reignites our occasional series that would be titled (if it had a title) “Who’s Getting Paid Next?” This time, we’ll do it position-by-position, starting with Odell’s.
Wide receiver
Biggest current contract: Beckham. Five years, $90 million, $65 million injury guarantee, $41 million guaranteed at signing.
Who’s next to get paid? Detroit’s Golden Tate has one year left on his deal and is looking for a new one. Tyler Lockett is a guy Seattle could look to lock up long term. And it’s possible the Bills could do something with Kelvin Benjamin before season’s end. None of those players are likely to land a deal in Beckham’s neighborhood, though. (Some might ask about Josh Gordon, but he’s in line for restricted free agency next year, where these other three guys would be unrestricted. That hurts Gordon’s market value, even if he does play all 16 games and perform the way he’s capable of performing.)
Who’ll top Beckham’s deal? Julio Jones is the easy answer. He’ll hit the 2019 offseason with two years left on his deal, but part of the way the Falcons got him to camp this year was by assuring him they’d renegotiate next year. He’ll be 30 next summer, whereas Beckham is still only 25, but a big year by Jones could position him to break Beckham’s record. The Saints’ Michael Thomas, the Raiders’ Amari Cooper, the Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill and the Bengals’ A.J. Green are among the 2020 free agents who could be looking for big new extensions next summer and could, if they light it up this year, threaten Beckham’s numbers.
Quarterback
Biggest current contract: Matt Ryan, Falcons. Five years, $150 million, $100 million injury guarantee, $94.5 million guaranteed at signing.
Who’s next to get paid? Probably Aaron Rodgers, who’s been in discussions with the Packers about a new extension for a while now even though he has two years left on his deal. Tyrod Taylor and Teddy Bridgewater look like the most interesting potential names on the 2019 free-agent market at this point.
Who’ll top Ryan’s deal? Rodgers should be in position to surpass Ryan in at least one, if not all metrics. Looking beyond that, Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota are 2020 free agents who’ll be in line for extensions this time next year. Wilson in particular could threaten Ryan and/or Rodgers with a monster 2018 season. There are also some older QBs like Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Tom Brady who’d be up for extensions next summer, but that’s a bit of a different market at this point.
Running back
Biggest current contract: Todd Gurley, Rams. Four years, $57.5 million, $45 million injury guarantee, $21.95 million guaranteed at signing.
Who’s next to get paid? The Cardinals’ do-everything David Johnson is looking to get a new deal done before the season starts. He’s a good enough player to ask for Gurley money, but he’s also coming off a year lost to injury and his $1.8825 million 2018 salary provides a lower starting point than Gurley’s $9.6 million 2019 option did and a far lower one than Le’Veon Bell‘s $14.544 million franchise tag does.
Who’ll top Gurley’s deal? As mentioned, it’s not crazy to think Johnson could, but Bell is the more likely answer. The franchise player rules prohibit the Steelers from doing a deal with Bell before the end of the season, but they’re not likely to be able to franchise him again in 2019, so he’s in line for unrestricted free agency and a huge payday if he gets through 2018 healthy. Mark Ingram, Jay Ajayi and Johnson would join Bell on next year’s market if not extended sooner. Melvin Gordon and Jordan Howard are 2020 free agents who could be looking for extensions next summer.
Tight end
Biggest current contract: Depending on how you look at it, it’s either Kansas City’s Travis Kelce or Green Bay’s Jimmy Graham. Kelce’s deal is five years, $46.8 million with $20 million in injury guarantees and $10.517 million guaranteed at signing. Graham got a three-year, $30 million free-agent deal from the Packers in March, but only $11 million is guaranteed.
Who’s next to get paid? The Patriots always seem on the verge of doing something with Rob Gronkowski‘s contract, and he has every right to expect to be the league’s highest-paid tight end.
Who’ll top Kelce/Graham? Other than Gronk, this market doesn’t look too ripe for in-season extensions. Cincinnati’s Tyler Eifert is the biggest potential name on next year’s free-agent tight end market and he should (finally) be able to get through a season healthy.
Offensive line
Biggest current contract: Taylor Lewan, Titans. Five years, $80 million, $50 million injury guarantee, $34 million guaranteed at signing.
Who’s next to get paid? Hard to say for sure, as teams have locked up tackles such as Lewan, Jake Matthews, Duane Brown and Rob Havenstein already this summer to keep them off next year’s market. Former first-round picks Ereck Flowers in New York and Cedric Ogbuehi in Cincinnati would need major breakout years to land paydays next summer. Tampa Bay left tackle Donovan Smith will be a free agent as well.
Who’ll top Lewan? Maybe someone like a Jack Conklin or Laremy Tunsil when their time comes, but that’s not for a while. Washington’s Brandon Scherff will be in line for a big extension next summer and could become the highest-paid guard, but he’s not likely to threaten Lewan’s top-tackle numbers.
Edge rusher
Biggest current contract: Von Miller, Broncos. Six years, $114.5 million, $70 million injury guarantee, $42 million guaranteed at signing.
Who’s next to get paid? Well, if common sense prevails in Oakland, it’ll be Khalil Mack, who should sail past Miller’s 2-year-old deal but can’t get the Raiders to the negotiating table for some reason. Perhaps he’ll get traded to a team that’ll give him the deal he wants. Otherwise, Jadeveon Clowney should be getting an extension from Houston at some point soon, Seattle’s looking to sign Frank Clark long term and franchise players Demarcus Lawrence (Dallas) and Ezekiel Ansah (Detroit) could find themselves on next year’s free-agent market.
Who’ll top Miller? Mack, eventually, and Lawrence and/or Ansah if they have big 2018 seasons. Atlanta’s Vic Beasley will be looking for a new deal next summer if he doesn’t get one before then. Miller’s deal has held up well, but it’s about time the defensive player market moved. Which brings us to…
Defensive tackle
Biggest current contract: Fletcher Cox, Eagles. Six years, $102.6 million. $63.3 million injury guarantee, $36.3 million guaranteed at signing.
Who’s next to get paid? Aaron Donald and the Rams have been haggling about a new deal for two offseasons now, and signs point to something getting done in time for the start of the 2018 season. Donald should beat Miller’s deal by a wide margin, resetting the market for top defensive players the league over. Atlanta’s Grady Jarrett and Minnesota’s Sheldon Richardson are among the 2019 free agents who could get extensions before or during the 2018 season.
Who’ll top Cox? Donald, for sure, and likely Atkins once Donald is done. Richardson could do it if he convinces someone to commit to him for more than one year.
Linebacker
Biggest current contract: Jamie Collins, Browns. Four years, $50 million with $26.4 million in guarantees.
Who’s next to get paid? Traditional linebackers — meaning 4-3 linebackers or 3-4 inside linebackers — aren’t a premium position in terms of how teams allocate major spending, because they aren’t positions where guys end up getting a lot of sacks. But some do crack that eight-figure-a-year mark, and next year’s free-agent market could feature the likes of K.J. Wright, Anthony Barr and C.J. Mosley.
Who’ll top Collins? Let’s go with Mosley here, as he seems positioned as a key cog for a Baltimore team that’s traditionally hung its hat on defense.
Cornerback
Biggest current contract: Josh Norman, Washington. Five years, $75 million, $50 million injury guarantee, $36 million guaranteed at signing.
Who’s next to get paid? Bradley Roby in Denver and Ronald Darby in Philadelphia look from this point to be the biggest names on the potential 2019 free-agent cornerback market. Either or both could get extended during this coming season.
Who’ll top Norman? Minnesota’s Trae Waynes and the Rams’ Marcus Peters are the names to watch for the next big cornerback deals. Each is scheduled to play 2019 on a fifth-year rookie contract option, which means the time to extend them would be next summer. Following that, look out for Jacksonville’s Jalen Ramsey to top them all in the summer of 2020, if not sooner.
Safety
Biggest current contract: Eric Berry, Chiefs. Six years, $78 million, $40 million in guarantees.
Who’s next to get paid? Could be Earl Thomas if the Seahawks decide to give him the extension he wants or trade him to someone who will. Failing that, potential 2019 free agents in line for extensions include the Giants’ Landon Collins and the Packers’ Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. As the Rams’ franchise player, Lamarcus Joyner can’t negotiate a new deal until after this season.
Who’ll top Berry? The premise of this entire article is that the Giants aren’t afraid to pay top dollar for their top players, so Collins is the easy answer here. Joyner could certainly top Berry if the Rams let him onto next year’s free-agent market. And who’s to say what Tyrann Mathieu might be able to do if he has a healthy and productive season on his one-year deal in Houston?
Source : ESPN
