It finally happened.
Justin Jefferson, star wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings reset the market, not just for receivers, but for non-quarterbacks in the NFL. Jefferson's contract extension is for four years, worth $140 million with $110 million guaranteed.
The standard is set.
This contract is what's necessary to keep star receivers happy in 2024. For the Atlanta Falcons, that leads to the question of what this means for Drake London and where he falls in this new wide receiver landscape.
By The Numbers
*(Average per year)
Targets*: 113.5
Receptions*: 70.5
Yards*: 885.5
Touchdowns*: 3
Yards/Route Run: 1.96
Drop %: 3.4%
Rating when Targeted: 84.9
Most recent PFF grade: 78.9
Receivers with similar production
From 2022, the players that have brought in between 125-150 receptions and have gained between 1500-2000 yards are:
- Christian Kirk ($18 million APY)
- Cooper Kupp ($26.7 million APY)
- Jakobi Meyers ($11 million APY)
- DeAndre Hopkins ($13 million APY) and
- Diontae Johnson ($18.35 million APY)
This is around the company that Drake finds himself in, that tier just below the elite, except for Cooper Kupp.
Which is where we start the discussion.
Outside of Meyers, who has played up to and possibly outplayed his contract, the number seems to stay between that $15 million to $20 million range (Hopkins' deal falls underneath that threshold due to age).
Is Drake worth $15 million to $20 million APY
Currently, the players that are making $15 million to $20 million APY are:
- Tyler Lockett
- Courtland Sutton
- Jerry Jeudy
- Christian Kirk
- Diontae Johnson
- Chris Godwin
- Amari Cooper
With Kirk Cousins throwing him the football, Amari Cooper feels like a ceiling for London. So, at this point, if Atlanta were to do an extension for London, which they won't with all the uncertainty surrounding this offense, you could expect London to be worth around $17.5 million.
These numbers are important to monitor because the Falcons' trio of first-round weapons (Kyle Pitts, London & Bijan Robinson) will be difficult to keep together. If they want to keep this core together, making sure that the numbers continue to make sense is paramount to continue to build around this trio of talent.
