After being traded from the Denver Broncos to the Cleveland Browns, former first-round choice Jerry Jeudy got a stunningly large contract deal. Jeudy now ranks among the top 20 WR contracts in terms of average annual value. The three-year, $58 million deal he recently signed pays $19 million per season, which is WR1 money.
Frankly, the Browns made a tremendous financial error and overpaid for the shifty route runner, who cost them two draft picks.
Jeudy will be 25 years old as he starts his sixth season in the NFL. He still has youth on his side, but he has yet to establish himself as a top-tier WR2 in the NFL. Although that could be what the Browns need alongside Amari Cooper, the contract is simply too large. Jeudy has never achieved 1,000 receiving yards in a single season, and his career catch percentage is less than 60%.
He has only played one full season and has averaged 3.7 receptions and 53.6 yards per game. In his 57-game career, he has only 11 touchdown receptions. The franchise had previously given Deshaun Watson a fully guaranteed contract, which immediately became the worst contract in the NFL, and possibly in professional sports.
The squad is in win-now mindset, but there is a narrow line between being aggressive in order to win now and being irresponsible. The trade for Jeudy was fine because they just had to give up some late-round selections, but extending the guy before seeing him play a single snap in their uniform, and extending him for this much money, is simply not the correct move.
Perhaps Jerry Jeudy can prove his critics wrong. If Deshaun Watson can finally settle in as Cleveland’s quarterback, Jeudy may be able to settle in and accumulate the yards and touchdowns that many predicted he’d produce coming out of Alabama in the 2020 NFL Draft.
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