Why has the 2023 wide receiver market been so quiet?
In 2022, we witnessed a ground-breaking year of business for some of the top wide receivers from across the league.
Trades for Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill, while the Buffalo Bills gave star Stefon Diggs a mega, six-year deal worth over $124m. The most surprising contract of all was the Jacksonville Jaguars luring Christian Kirk to a four-year deal in North Florida which could be worth as much as $84m.
The contracts given the such players in 2022 highlighted just how important, and expensive the top receivers were becoming.
But now in 2023, the market has been reset again. And this time, it has gone into decline.
What has happened?
We’re all waiting on word on potential new destinations for Arizona’s DeAndre Hopkins, Denver’s Jerry Jeudy and even Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins, while free-agent Odell Beckham Jr. seems to be struggling to tie down a potential suitor.
That’s a very good crop of players currently on the trade block, and in any other year, I’m sure there would have already been moves for all three. But the wide receiver market has been quiet, as teams feel the squeeze that overpaying has done to their cap space.
Allen Lazard, Jakobi Meyers and JuJu Smith-Schuster have signed the most lucrative new deals to this point of free agency, with each set to reach at least $10 million a year going forward. But none have really broken the bank with a deal that was disproportionate to their market value.
The Browns recently acquired young receiver Elijah Moore from the New York Jets for a very reasonable price. In fact, for the second-round pick that Cleveland gave up, I don’t think there is a receiver in this draft class that would be better than Moore who would be available at the time of the selection.
Don’t get me wrong, teams will be relieved that the value of receivers available has seemingly dropped. This free agency class is certainly not one of the best over the past few years, and it is appropriate to take advantage of a loaded market or to pay a transcendent talent who is already on your roster.
But this offseason has been a down year for receivers. The money has reflected as much, and the high-profile patterns on inactivity and waiting have ensued as a result.
