"Welcome to New America" - NFL analyst takes a dig at stars like A.J. Brown and Deebo Samuel demanding big-money contracts
Four-year wide receivers such as AJ Brown, Deebo Samuel, and Terry McLaurin are all seeking new contracts and are reportedly sitting out of off-season programs in lieu of a new contract.
John Middlekauf took a jab at young receivers who sit out due to contract demands on 3 and Out.
Middlekauf said:
"AJ Brown, Deebo Samuel and Terry Mclaurin are not going to report until a new contract is figured out, according to reports to the offseason. And listen, the NFL has become a massive business. We all know that.
Ultimately, the big contracts in baseball and basketball when you think about it. Only so many guys got those. You had to be a superstar to get to $300 million in baseball or basketball.
The majority of players don't get that though. We just talked so much about [what] Giannis or Kevin Durant or Bryce Harper or Clayton Kershaw make. But they are not the majority. They are the minority, like the majority of industries. Colin always talks about this, the cream rises, the top percentage in every industry makes the most money."
Middlekauf stated that this is New America with how things work these days with contract negotiations.
Middlekauf added:
"Welcome to New America. That's the way it works. Now, if you're in the right industry, even if you're not in the top couple percent, you can still print money. Like there's ultimately nothing wrong with signing a $20 million contract. But we don't really talk that much about those guys. And for a long time, I think you could debate how valuable wide receivers were in the history of the league, right?"
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Deebo Samuel, AJ Brown, and Terry McLaurin are not expected to participate in their team’s off-season activities because they want new contract extensions.
Second-round picks that include WRs Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown and Terry McLaurin are not expected to participate in their teams’ on-field off-season programs because they want new contracts at a time this off-season when WR deals have exploded, per league sources.
Deebo Samuel and AJ Brown took their teams out of their bios in the midst of a new contract
Following their demands for new contracts, Deebo Samuel and AJ Brown took their respective teams out of their social media bios.
Samuel took the 49ers out of his bio last week on April 12. Brown took Tennessee out of his bio yesterday and also put out a subliminal tweet saying, "I’m a diva and a bad teammate all of sudden, lol ok. Do what you have to do then and so will I."
It seems like there could be real possibilities of these star receivers being on the move.