Looking at the largest wide receiver contracts in NFL history

The NFL wide receiver market has skyrocketed in recent seasons. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson recently signed a $140 million deal which became the largest contract by a wide receiver in NFL history by total and annual average value. 

Five of the ten largest wide receiver deals in league history have come in 2024, with Jefferson, AJ Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jaylen Waddle, and Nico Collins all getting deals this offseason. Let’s take a look. 

Largest NFL wide receiver contracts, based on annual average value

1. Justin Jefferson: $35M

• After being drafted 22nd overall in the 2020 draft, Jefferson holds the NFL record for the most receiving yards through a player’s first four seasons with 5,899.
• He has recorded 29 games with 100+ receiving yards in his first four seasons, the most in NFL history by a player in that span.
• Jefferson currently holds the NFL record for most career receiving yards per game at 98.3.

2. AJ Brown: $32M

• Last season, Brown recorded six straight games 125-plus receiving yards, breaking the record for the longest such streak in NFL history.
• In 2022, he set the Eagles single-season franchise record for receiving yards, with 1,436 yards in 17 games played.

3 (tie). Amon-Ra St. Brown: $30M

• Amon-Ra St. Brown recorded 15 games in his career with over 100 receiving yards, breaking the Lions record for most such games in a player’s first three seasons.
• Since entering the league in 2021, he is one of five receivers in that span to record over 3,500 receiving yards, 315 receptions, and over 20 receiving touchdowns (Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, CeeDee Lamb, Stefon Diggs).

3 (tie). Tyreek Hill: $30M

• Tyreek Hill is the only player in NFL history to have multiple seasons with over 1,700 receiving yards, doing so in 2022 and 2023.
• Including the playoffs, he has 28 touchdown receptions of 50-plus yards — the most of any active player and the fifth-most all-time.

5. Jaylen Waddle: $28.3M

• In 2021, Jaylen Waddle recorded 104 receptions — setting the NFL single season record at the time (Puka Nacua would break it by one catch in 2023).
• Among receivers drafted in 2021, he ranks third in yards (3,385), third in receptions (251), and fourth in touchdown receptions (18) despite missing four games in that span.

6. Davante Adams: $28M

• Since 2021, Davante Adams has recorded 13 games with 120-plus receiving yards and a touchdown catch — more than any other player in that span.
• He has 95 receiving touchdowns since entering the league in 2014, which is tied for the fifth most all-time by a player in their first 10 seasons; no active player has more touchdown receptions than he does.

7. Cooper Kupp: $26.7M

• In 2021, Cooper Kupp recorded 1,947 receiving yards, just 18 yards shy of breaking Calvin Johnson’s NFL single-season record.
• In that same 2021 season, he won the Super Bowl, was named Super Bowl MVP, won NFL Offensive Player of the Year, and completed the triple crown (led the league in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown catches).

8. DeVonta Smith: $25M

• DeVonta Smith is one of three receivers ever to win the Heisman trophy in 2020.
• His 19 career touchdown catches are the third most of any receiver drafted in 2021.
• In 2022, he set the Eagles single-season record for receptions by a receiver (95) until A.J. Brown passed him the following year.

9. Nico Collins: $24.3M

• Eclipsing over 1,000 receiving yards in 2023, Collins is only the fourth Texan ever to achieve that mark in a single season — joining Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins, and Brandin Cooks.
• He has two games in his career with over 190 receiving yards, becoming just the third Texans receiver to have multiple games with over 190 receiving yards (Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins).

10. DK Metcalf: $24M

• In 2020, Metcalf became the fastest player in Seahawks history to reach 1,000 receiving yards — doing so in just 11 games, breaking the previous mark of 13 games set by Hall of Famer Steve Largent and Darrell Jackson.
• He is the third player in NFL history to reach 50 receptions, 900 yards and five touchdowns in each of his first five seasons (A.J. Green, Randy Moss).

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