The Highest Paid Wide Receivers in NFL After Jaylen Waddle’s Dolphins Extension
On May 30, the Miami Dolphins inked standout wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to a hefty three-year, $84.75 million contract extension with $76 million guaranteed. The deal makes Waddle one of the highest-paid wideouts in the entire NFL, quite an honor considering how many good and well-paid receivers there are in the league nowadays.
Specifically, Waddle is now one of the five highest-paid wide receivers based on average annual value, or AAV. This has become the most used metric in ranking NFL contracts because salary guarantees fluctuate so drastically from contract to contract. It's also quite simple—to find the AAV of any deal, take the total value and divide it by the length of the contract.
In Waddle's case, his three-year contract comes out to an average of $28.25 million per season. That ranks below Philadelphia Eagles' A.J. Brown ($32 million) Detroit Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown ($30 million) and fellow Dolphin Tyreek Hill ($30 million) but higher than contemporaries like Las Vegas Raiders' Davante Adams ($28 million) or Los Angeles Rams' Cooper Kupp ($26.7 million).
Speaking even more broadly, how does Waddle's new deal stack up across the league? Here's where he ranks among the NFL's 30 highest-paid receivers, ranked by AAV with total value and the total amount of money that is guaranteed, which is another useful metric in measuring how much the contract really means to both player and team.
PLAYER/TEAM | AVERAGE ANNUAL VALUE | TOTAL VALUE | TOTAL GUARANTEED |
|---|---|---|---|
A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles | $32 million | $96 million | $84 million |
Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions | $30 million | $120 million | $77 million |
Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins | $30 million | $120 million | $72.2 million |
Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins | $28.25 million | $84.75 million | $76 million |
Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders | $28 million | $140 million | $65.7 million |
Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams | $26.7 million | $80.1 million | $75 million |
DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles | $25 million | $75 million | $70 million |
Nico Collins, Houston Texans | $24.3 million | $72.3 million | $32.1 million |
D.K. Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks | $24 million | $72 million | $58.2 million |
Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers | $23.9 million | $71.6 million | $58.2 million |
Michael Pittman Jr., Indianapolis Colts | $23.3 million | $70 million | $46 million |
Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders | $23.2 million | $69.6 million | $53.2 million |
Calvin Ridley, Tennessee Titans | $23 million | $92 million | $50 million |
Stefon Diggs, Houston Texans | $22.5 million | $22.5 million | $22 million |
Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals (pending signing of franchise tag) | $21.8 million | $21.8 million | $0 |
D.J. Moore, Chicago Bears | $20.6 million | $61.9 million | $41.6 million |
Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | $20.5 million | $41 million | $29 million |
Keenan Allen, Chicago Bears | $20 million | $80.1 million | $50 million |
Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns | $20 million | $100 million | $60 million |
Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | $20 million | $60 million | $40 million |
Diontae Johnson, Carolina Panthers | $18.4 million | $36.7 million | $27 million |
Christian Kirk, Jacksonville Jaguars | $18 million | $72 million | $37 million |
Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland Browns | $17.5 million | $52.5 million | $41 million |
Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks | $15 million | $30 million | $12.6 million |
Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos | $15 million | $60 million | $34.9 million |
DeAndre Hopkins, Tennessee Titans | $13 million | $26 million | $11 million |
Gabe Davis, Jacksonville Jaguars | $13 million | $39 million | $24 million |
Darnell Mooney, Atlanta Falcons | $13 million | $39 million | $26 million |
Allen Lazard, New York Jets | $11 million | $44 million | $22 million |
Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas Raiders | $11 million | $33 million | $21 million |
There are undoubtedly more names who will be added to this list as soon as this offseason. Minnesota Vikings' Justin Jefferson, Dallas Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb, San Francisco 49ers' Brandon Aiyuk, and Cincinnati Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase are all eligible for extensions this summer. Most, if not all, should receive lucrative offers that will ultimately rank above even Waddle's new deal.
It's a good time to play receiver in the National Football League, that's for sure.