San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk finally agreed to his monster extension with the franchise on Thursday, ending his long-standing holdout with the team.
Aiyuk is a very rich man now, and him reaching his new deal right on the heels of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb signing his is going to speed up the extension market for other star players at the position.
It’s always good with a couple of big contracts get done at the same position to look at who else might be in line for their respective paydays, and we’ve gathered five wide receivers who will have new contracts sooner than later.
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Chase is in the midst of a hold-in with the Bengals, and we’re assuming a new deal with one of the league’s best receivers is only a matter of time right now. While quarterback Joe Burrow is the most valuable player on the team’s roster, Chase is a close second. The team cannot go as far as it wants without him, so you can expect a massive deal will get done sooner than later.
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Higgins, on the other hand, is a much trickier case for the Bengals. It’s not impossible for Cincinnati to extend both players, but Higgins is understandably going to want top-flight money. If the Cincinnati season goes awry, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Bengals try to trade Higgins away for a first-round pick to a contender. If it goes well, then Cincinnati will be in the difficult spot to either negotiate an extension, a sign-and-trade with another team or watch Higgins walk as the most sought-after free agent at the position in some time. It’s a good problem to have great players until it’s time to pay them. Unless the team can get a deal done, the Bengals may have to make some hard decisions with Higgins when the time comes.
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After paying quarterback Baker Mayfield, wide receiver Mike Evans, tackle Tristan Wirfs and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. this offseason, Tampa Bay doesn’t have much cap space at its disposal in 2025 and would have to restructure contracts and/or make tough cuts to make space for a new Godwin deal. Godwin could be the top receiver on some teams, and we have a feeling he’ll want to cash in on his third professional contract. He could join Higgins as a hot commodity in free agency next spring if he leaves the Bucs.
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The Browns have an absolute cap nightmare to suss through in 2025 and 2026 as the last two years of the Deshaun Watson contract takes its toll on the organization. Unless it wants to kick $33 million down the hill on Watson’s deal on a restructure, it may not be able to hold onto Cooper at the contract number he’s going to want. A new deal is coming Cooper’s way at some point in the next year, and he could be a really popular trade target at the deadline if the Browns don’t play well this season and start looking to the future.
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Nacua is the NFL’s best bargain at the position, as the 2023 fifth-round pick exploded as one of the elite talents at the position and garnered the fourth-most receiving yards in the NFL. As he plays for the pass-happy Los Angeles Rams, his production is going to remain among the best in the league. While he’s not set to be a free agent until 2027, it feels highly implausible that he’s going to play out his deal before getting paid. For a player this talented and this productive, we doubt his management will have him playing at this low a contract for much longer. We bet a new deal gets done sooner than later… like after this season, honestly.
